ialifornia 
Jgional 
Jility 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 


UNIV.  OF  CALIF.  LIBRARY.  LOS  ANGELES 


Rico  stood  as  in  a  dream  and  did  not  stir, 


The  Story  of  Rico 

BY    THE    SWISS    WRITER 

JOHANNA   SPYRI 


Author  of  Heidi,  Chel, 
and  many  other  stories 


TRANSLATED    BY 

HELENS  H.  BOLL 


Printed  in  the  U.  S.  A. 


Beacon 

BOSTON,    MASSACHUSETTS 


/  0  •  "L-Ck  -JT  « 


Copyright,  1921 
By  THE  BEACON  PRESS 


All  rights  reserved 


To 

The  Friends  of  Many  Years 
SUSAN  S.  SHERIDAN,  PH.  D. 

and 
ELIZABETH  W.  CLEAVELAND,  PH.  D. 


2132803 


PREFACE 

To  Our  Boys  and  Girls: 

If  you  have  read  some  of  Johanna  Spyri's 
books  you  will  not  want  to  wait  to  hear  what 
we  would  like  to  say  to  you,  but  will  want  to 
start  right  off  to  read  the  story.  If,  however, 
you  have  not  read  any  of  her  stories,  we  would 
like  to  tell  you  that  she  was  born  almost  one 
hundred  years  ago,  in  a  little  country  called 
Switzerland,  which  has  very  high  mountains 
and  very  deep  valleys.  She  loved  girls  and 
boys  and  always  wanted  to  write  stories  for 
them,  but  she  never  wrote  any  until  she  was 
quite  old,  and  of  course  she  did  not  know  how 
to  speak  English,  because  the  language  she 
learned  as  a  child  was  German. 

The  girls  and  boys  who  could  read  German 
liked  her  stories  so  well  that  the  woman  who 
translated  this  story  decided  to  write  it  just  as 
Madame  Spyri  would  have  written  it  if  she  had 
known  English.  The  translator  has  been  care 
ful  to  preserve  the  simple,  direct  sentences  that 
have  made  this  story  so  attractive  to  young 
people. 


[vii] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

The  translator  understands  American  boys 
and  girls,  for  she  has  been  a  teacher  for  many 
years.  She  also  knows  Swiss  boys  and  girls,  for 
she  has  often  visited  the  places  which  are  men 
tioned  in  this  story.  Madame  Spyri  liked 
American  children,  and  when,  in  1898,  the 
translator  wrote  to  her  for  permission  to  edit 
"  Rosenresli "  for  high  school  students  who 
study  German,  Madame  Spyri,  in  granting  the 
request,  replied :  "  I  want  to  have  big  and  little 
friends  in  America." 

We  know  that  you  will  like  this  story  for  the 
author  wrote  about  children  whom  she  really 
knew,  and  you  too  will  feel  that  you  actually 
know  the  people  and  the  places  mentioned. 

THE  PUBLISHERS. 


[viii] 


CONTENTS 

PART  I 
SCHOOL  DAYS  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

PAGE 

Chapter  I  In  the  Silent  House  ...       1 

Chapter  II          Happy  Days  at  School  .       6 

Chapter  III        The   Old  Schoolmaster's 

Violin.   ......     13 

Chapter  IV        The    Distant,    Nameless 

Lake 22 

Chapter  V          Rico  Learns  the  Name  of 

his  Lake 27 

Chapter  VI         Grandmother  Tells  about 

Rico's  Mother  ...     31 

Chapter  VII  A  Precious  Inheritance  .  35 

Chapter  VIII  On  the  Silser  Lake  ...  41 

Chapter  IX  Mysterious  Happenings  .  47 

Chapter  X  Stineli  Tells  a  Secret    .    .  52 

Chapter  XI  A  Long  Journey  ....  56 

Chapter  XII      A    Stranger   Helps    the 

Little  Wanderer  .    .     67 

Cix] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

PART  II 
AT  THE  BEAUTIFUL  GARDA  LAKE 

PAGE 

Chapter  XIII     At  the  Distant,  Beautiful 

Lake 77 

Chapter  XIV     Rico  Makes  New  Friends    87 

Chapter  XV       Silvio's  Mother  Makes  a 

Promise 103 

Chapter  XVI     The    Minister    Finds    a 

Way 109 

Chapter  XVII    Back    Over    the  Moun 
tains  121 

Chapter  XVIII  Two  Happy  Travellers   .   131 

Chapter  XIX     Clouds    on    the    Garda 

Lake 141 

Chapter  XX      Rico  Finds  his  Home  .    .150 

Chapter  XXI     Sunshine  on  the  Beauti 
ful  Garda  Lake  .       160 


Cx] 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

.  .  .  Rico  stood  as  in  a  dream  and  did 

not  stir 

Frontispiece 

The  grandmother  liked  to  listen  to  the 
fresh  young  voices 44 

Then  she  .  .  .  made  figures  with  her 
nimble  fingers  so  that  the  shadow  fell 
upon  the  wall 136 


Illustrations  by  Julia  Greene 


Cxi] 


PART  I 
SCHOOL  DAYS  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 


CHAPTER  I 

In  the  Silent  House 

N  the  Upper  Engadine,  near  the  road 
which  leads  up  the  Maloja,  lies  a  lone 
some  little  village — its  name  is  Sils. 
From  there  one  leaves  the  road  and 
goes  across  the  field,  and  behind,  quite 
close  to  the  mountain,  lies  a  small  hamlet  to 
which  the  name  of  Sils-Maria  has  been  given. 
There  stood,  a  little  distance  in  the  field,  two 
little  houses  opposite  each  other.  Both  these 
little  houses  had  ancient  wooden  house-doors 
and  tiny  windows  placed  deep  in  the  wall. 
Beside  one  of  the  houses  was  a  small  garden, 
in  which  grew  vegetables.  There  also  were 
four  flower-pots,  the  flowers  of  which  were  lean 
and  lanky  like  the  vegetables.  Near  the  other 
house  was  nothing  except  a  small  barn;  near 
the  door,  two  hens  strutted  in  and  out.  This 
house  was  a  good  deal  smaller  than  the  other 
and  the  wooden  door  was  black  from  age. 

Every  morning,  about  the  same  time,  a  tall 
man  came  out  of  this  door,  which  was  so  small 
that  he  had  to  bend  to  get  out.  The  tall  man 

[1] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

had  very  black,  glossy  hair  and  black  eyes,  and 
beneath  the  well-formed  nose  began  a  dense, 
black  beard,  so  that  nothing  could  be  seen  of 
the  rest  of  the  face  except  the  white  teeth 
which  flashed  between  the  hairs  of  the  beard 
when  the  man  sometimes  spoke;  which,  how 
ever,  happened  rarely. 

All  the  people  in  Sils  knew  the  man  but  no 
one  called  him  by  name.  With  everyone  he 
went  by  the  name  of  the  Italian.  He  regu 
larly  went  along  the  narrow  path  across  the  field 
towards  Sils  and  up  the  Maloja.  Much  road- 
building  was  going  on  there  and  the  Italian 
worked  there.  But  when  he  did  not  go  up  the 
road,  he  went  down  toward  St.  Moritz.  There 
houses  were  being  built  and  there  also  he  found 
work.  There  he  remained  during  the  day  and 
only  returned  in  the  evening.  Usually,  when 
he  stepped  out  of  the  door  in  the  morning  a 
small  boy  stood  behind  him,  who  remained 
standing  on  the  threshold  when  the  father  was 
outside,  and  looked  with  his  large  dark  eyes 
after  him  or  elsewhere,  one  could  not  say 
where;  for  it  seemed  as  if  those  dark  eyes 
looked  beyond  everything  that  lay  before  them 
and  at  something  which  no  one  else  could  see. 

On  Sunday  afternoons,  when  the  sun  was 
shining,  both  stepped  out  of  the  little  house 

[2] 


IN  THE  SILENT  HOUSE 

and  walked  side  by  side  up  the  road.  And  if 
one  looked  at  them,  one  saw  the  same  thing 
in  two  forms,  only  in  the  boy  everything  was  in 
miniature;  but  it  was  like  a  piece  of  the  father, 
up  to  the  black  beard  which  the  child  did  not 
yet  have,  only  a  narrow,  pale  little  face  was  to 
be  seen,  with  the  well-formed  little  nose  in  the 
centre,  and  around  the  mouth  was  something 
sad,  just  as  if  it  did  not  care  to  laugh. 

When  now  the  two  were  walking  thus  side 
by  side,  neither  said  a  word  to  the  other.  The 
father  usually  hummed  a  song,  often  he  sang 
louder,  and  the  little  boy  listened.  But  when 
it  was  raining  on  Sunday,  then  the  father  sat  at 
home  in  the  little  house  on  the  bench  near  the 
window,  and  the  little  boy  sat  beside  him  and 
again  they  said  nothing  to  each  other.  But 
sometimes  the  father  pulled  a  harmonica  out  of 
his  pocket  and  played  one  tune  after  another, 
and  the  boy  listened  attentively.  Sometimes 
he  would  take  a  comb  or  a  leaf  and  bring  forth 
melodies,  or  he  would  carve  a  piece  of  wood  in 
shape  and  whistle  a  song  on  it.  It  seemed 
that  there  was  nothing  from  which  he  could  not 
extract  music.  But  once  he  had  brought  a 
violin  home,  which  so  delighted  the  little  boy 
that  he  could  not  forget  it.  The  father  had 
played  many  airs  and  melodies  on  it  and  the 

[3] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

little  boy  had  steadily  watched  him,  and  had 
not  only  listened,  but  when  the  father  had  put 
away  the  violin,  the  little  boy  had  softly  taken 
it  and  had  tried  to  see  how  the  melodies  were 
drawn  from  it.  And  the  father  had  smiled  and 
had  said:  "Well,  then,  come,"  and  had  placed 
his  big  fingers  on  the  little  ones  with  his  left 
hand,  and  with  his  right  he  had  taken  the  boy's 
hand  and  the  bow  in  his  own,  and  so  they  had, 
for  a  long  time,  continued  to  fiddle  all  kinds  of 
melodies. 

The  next  week,  when  father  was  away,  the 
little  boy  tried  to  play,  and  finally  he  really 
did  play  a  melody.  Then,  one  day  the  violin 
disappeared  and  was  never  seen  again.  At 
times  when  they  were  sitting  together,  the 
father  began  to  sing,  at  first  softly,  then  al 
ways  more  distinctly.  Then  the  boy  joined 
in  and  when  he  could  not  sing  the  words,  he 
sang  the  tunes,  for  the  father  always  sang  in 
Italian,  and  the  boy  understood  much,  but  did 
not  know  the  words  well  enough  to  sing  them. 
There  was  however  one  melody  which  he  knew 
better  than  the  others,  for  his  father  had  sung 
the  song  a  hundred  times.  It  belonged  to  a 
long  song  which  began 
"Una  sera 
La  Peschiera — " 
[4] 


IN  THE  SILENT  HOUSE 

It  was  a  quiet,  pensive  melody,  from  which 
someone  had  written  the  juvenile  romance  so 
that  he  sang  it  always  with  delight  and  quite 
devotedly,  and  it  sounded  well,  for  the  little 
fellow  had  a  voice  as  clear  as  a  bell,  and  it 
blended  well  with  his  father's  rich  bass.  Every 
time  that  they  sang  this  song,  the  father  patted 
the  little  one  on  the  shoulder  and  said:  "Bene, 
Henrico,  va  bene."  (Good,  Henry,  that's 
good.) 

It  was  only  the  father  who  called  the  boy 
"Henrico,"  by  everyone  else  he  was  called 
"Rico." 

There  was  also  an  aunt  who  lived  in  the 
household;  she  mended  and  cooked  and  kept 
things  in  order.  In  the  winter  she  sat  near  the 
stove  and  span ;  then  Rico  always  had  to  think 
out,  how  he  could  arrange  his  outings,  for  as 
soon  as  he  opened  the  door,  the  aunt  said:  "Do 
leave  the  door  alone,  it  is  getting  quite  cold  in 
the  room."  Often  he  was  alone  for  a  long  time 
with  the  aunt  because  his  father  had  work 
somewhere  below  in  the  valley  and  stayed 
away  for  many  weeks  at  a  time. 


[5] 


CHAPTER  II 

Happy  Days  at  School 

ICO  was  approaching  his  ninth  year. 
He  had  attended  school  for  two  win 
ters,  for  in  summer  time  there  was  no 
school  there  in  the  mountains,  for  then 
the  schoolmaster  had  to  look  after  his 
fields,  had  to  cut  hay  and  to  hoe  just  like 
everybody  else,  for  no  one  had  time  for  school 
in  the  summer.  But  this  did  not  trouble  Rico, 
he  knew  how  to  entertain  himself.  In  the 
morning  he  would  often  stand  in  front  of  his 
house,  until  the  door  of  the  house  across  the 
road  opened,  and  a  little  girl  came  out  and 
looked  laughingly  across  to  him.  Then  Rico 
would  run  quickly  to  her,  for  the  children  had 
much  to  tell  each  other  since  last  evening, 
when  they  had  parted,  just  before  Stineli  was 
called  into  the  house. 

The  girl's  name  was  Stineli  and  she  was  the 
same  age  as  Rico;  they  had  walked  to  school 
together  and  were  in  the  same  class,  and  they 
had  been  always  together;  for  it  was  only  a 
small  distance  between  their  homes,  and  they 
were  the  best  of  friends. 

[6] 


HAPPY  DAYS  AT  SCHOOL 

Rico  had  only  this  one  friend,  among  the 
boys  round  about  he  had  none,  and  when  they 
fought  and  threw  each  other  on  the  ground 
and  stood  on  their  heads,  he  went  away  and 
did  not  even  look  back.  But  when  they 
shouted :  "  Now  we  will  give  Rico  a  good  whip 
ping,"  then  he  stopped,  stood  very  straight, 
but  did  nothing;  for  with  his  large  dark  eyes 
he  looked  so  strangely  at  them  that  no  one 
came  near  him. 

But  he  was  happy  with  Stineli.  She  had  a 
little  snub  nose,  and  above  it  a  pair  of  brown 
eyes  which  were  always  laughing,  and  she  had 
two  brown  plaits  tight  around  her  head,  which 
Ipoked  very  neat,  for  Stineli  was  a  neat  girl 
and  knew  how  to  help  herself.  Stineli  who  was 
about  nine  years  old,  was  the  oldest,  and  so  had 
to  help  her  mother  the  whole  day  long,  for 
much  had  to  be  done.  For  after  Stineli  came 
Trudi  and  Sami  and  Peterli,  and  then  Urschli 
and  Anne-Deteli  and  Kunzli,  and  then  there 
was  the  baby  who  had  not  yet  been  christened 
and  therefore  had  no  name.  Stineli  was  called 
from  all  sides,  and  through  having  to  help  here 
and  there  and  run  hither  and  thither  the  whole 
day  long,  she  had  become  so  quick  that  every 
thing  was  done  as  if  of  itself.  She  had  put  on 
three  stockings  and  two  shoes  and  tied  them, 

[7] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

before  Trudi,  who  was  to  help  one  of  the  chil 
dren,  had  brought  the  legs  into  the  right  posi 
tion.  And  when  the  little  ones  called  Stineli 
in  the  room  and  at  the  same  time  the  mother 
called  her  from  the  kitchen,  then  the  father 
shouted  from  the  barn  to  Stineli  for  he  had  lost 
his  cap,  or  the  whip  was  entangled,  and  Stineli 
had  to  help  him,  for  she  found  the  cap  at  once, 
it  was  usually  on  the  feed-box,  and  her  nimble 
fingers  quickly  untwisted  the  whipcord. 

So  Stineli  was  always  on  the  run  or  working; 
but  she  always  was  quite  happy  and  cheerful 
with  all,  and  in  winter  she  was  glad  about  the 
school  for  then  she  walked  there  and  back 
again  with  Rico,  and  at  recess  they  also  walked 
together.  And  in  the  summer  she  was  happy 
again,  for  there  were  the  beautiful  Sunday 
evenings  when  she  could  get  out,  then  she  went 
for  a  walk  with  Rico,  who  had  been  waiting  for 
a  long  time  at  his  door.  Then  they  took  hold 
of  each  other's  hands  and  ran  over  the  large 
meadow  to  the  wood-covered  height  which 
extends  far  into  the  lake  like  an  island.  There 
they  sat  beneath  the  fir-trees  and  looked  down 
into  the  green  lake,  and  they  had  so  much  to 
tell  and  to  ask,  and  they  felt  so  happy  that 
Stineli  was  glad  the  whole  week,  and  through 
everything,  for  Sunday  always  came  again. 

[8] 


HAPPY  DAYS  AT  SCHOOL 

But  there  was  still  another  person  in  the  cot 
tage  who  now  and  then  called  for  Stineli,  that 
was  the  old  grandmother.  But  she  did  not 
call  for  Stineli  to  help  her;  she  wanted  to 
give  her  perhaps  a  small  coin  which  she  hap 
pened  to  come  across,  or  something  else,  for 
Stineli  was  her  favorite,  and  she  saw  more  than 
anyone  else  how  the  child  had  to  work  for  her 
age.  Therefore  she  liked  to  give  her  a  little 
money  so  that  Stineli,  like  other  children, 
could  buy  something  when  fair-time  came 
round,  perhaps  some  red  ribbon  or  a  needle- 
case.  Grandmother  liked  Rico  too,  and  she 
liked  to  see  the  two  together,  and  sometimes 
she  helped  so  that  Stineli  could  stay  a  little 
while  with  Rico. 

In  the  summer  evening,  grandmother  always 
sat  before  the  cottage  on  the  wood  log  which 
lay  there,  and  Stineli  and  Rico  stood  by  her 
and  she  told  them  stories.  When  the  prayer- 
bell  began  to  ring  from  the  little  church  tower, 
then  the  grandmother  said  to  the  children: 
"Each  of  you  must  now  say  the  Lord's  prayer, 
and  you  must  never  forget  that  you  must  pray 
the  Lord's  prayer;  that  is  why  the  bell  rings." 
"And  you  see,  children,"  the  grandmother 
would  say  now  and  then,  "I  have  lived  a  long 
time  and  have  seen  much,  and  I  do  not  know 

[9] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

one  single  person,  who  had  no  need  of  the 
Lord's  prayer  once  in  his  life,  but  I  have  known 
many  a  one  who  has  sought  it  in  great  fear, 
and  has  no  longer  found  it  when  need  came." 
Then  Stineli  and  Rico  stood  there  very 
devoutly,  and  each  said  the  prayer. 

Now  May  had  come  and  school  had  to  be 
kept  a  while  longer,  but  it  could  not  be  for 
long,  for  things  were  sprouting  under  the  trees 
and  long  stretches  were  free  from  snow. 
Rico  was  standing  in  the  doorway  and  was 
thinking  these  things.  Then  he  looked  at  the 
door  across  the  way  and  wondered  if  it  was  not 
going  to  be  opened.  Now  it  opened  and 
Stineli  came  jumping  out. 

"Have  you  stood  there  long?  Have  you 
again  been  surprised  at  something,  Rico?"  she 
called  out,  laughing  heartily.  "Do  you  see,  it 
is  quite  early  today,  we  can  walk  quite  slowly." 

Now  they  took  each  other's  hands  and 
walked  toward  school. 

"Are  you  still  thinking  of  the  lake?" 
Stineli  asked. 

"Of  course,"  Rico  assured  her  with  a  serious 
face,  "and  I  sometimes  dream  of  it,  and  I  see 
such  large,  red  flowers  and  across  it  I  see  the 
violet  mountains." 

"Oh,  what  one  dreams  only  once,  never 
[10] 


HAPPY  DAYS  AT  SCHOOL 

comes  true,"  Stineli  said  quickly.  "I  once 
dreamed  that  Peterli  was  climbing  all  alone  up 
the  very  highest  fir-tree,  and  when  he  was  sit 
ting  on  the  topmost  branch,  it  was  a  bird,  and 
he  called  down:  'Stineli,  put  on  my  stockings.' 
Now  you  can  see  that  it  is  nothing." 

Rico  had  to  think  deeply,  how  that  could  be, 
for  his  dream  could  not  be  true  and  yet  it  was 
like  something  that  returned  to  his  mind. 
But  they  had  now  arrived  at  the  schoolhouse, 
and  a  large  crowd  of  children  came  noisily 
from  the  other  side.  They  all  entered  together 
and  soon  after  the  schoolmaster  came.  He 
was  an  old  man  with  thin  gray  hair,  for  he  had 
been  teacher  for  so  many,  many  years  that  his 
hair  had  turned  gray  and  had  fallen  out. 
They  now  began  in  good  earnest  to  spell  and 
make  syllables,  then  came  the  1X1,  and  last  of 
all  came  the  turn  for  singing,  and  all  sang  with 
full  voices: 

"You  lambkins  come  down 
From  sun-covered  height, 
The  day  is  departing, 
It  soon  will  be  night." 

And  the  teacher  played  on  his  violin. 

But  Rico  looked  so  intently  at  the  violin 
and  the  teacher's  fingers  watching  how  he 

[11] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

touched  the  strings,  that  he  forgot  to  sing  and 
did  not  utter  another  sound.  Now,  all  at  once, 
the  whole  herd  of  singers  fell  gradually  to  a 
whole  half  tone  lower;  then  the  violin  too  began 
to  be  shaky,  and  now  all  the  singers  flatted 
still  more,  and  one  cannot  know  how  low  they 
would  have  gone,  had  not  the  teacher  thrown 
the  violin  on  the  table  and  cried  angrily: 
"What  kind  of  singing  is  that!  You  senseless 
screamers!  If  I  only  knew  who  sings  so 
wrong  and  spoils  my  song!" 

Then  a  little  fellow,  who  sat  next  to  Rico, 
shouted:  "I  know  why  we  sang  so,  it  always 
goes  like  that  when  Rico  stops  singing." 

"Rico,  Rico,  what  do  I  hear?"  the  teacher 
said  seriously,  turning  to  the  former.  "You 
are  usually  a  good  boy,  but  inattention  is  a 
great  mistake,  you  have  heard  it  now.  One 
single  inattentive  scholar  can  ruin  the  sing 
ing  of  a  whole  class.  Now  we  will  begin  once 
more,  and  now  Rico,  pay  attention." 

Rico  now  began  with  firm  clear  voice  and  the 
violin  followed  his  lead,  and  all  the  children 
sang  with  all  their  might  to  the  very  end,  so 
that  it  really  was  a  pleasure  to  listen.  This 
satisfied  the  teacher,  who  rubbed  his  hands  and 
added  a  few  firm  strokes  on  the  violin,  and 
said  contentedly :  "Ah!  it  is  a  fine  instrument." 
[12] 


CHAPTER  III 

The  Old  Schoolmaster 's  Violin 

UTSIDE,  Stineli  and  Rico  had  freed 
themselves  from  the  crowd  and  started 
together  on  their  homeward  way. 

"Rico,  did  you  stop  singing  because 
you  were  astonished  at  something?" 
asked  Stineli.  "Did  the  lake  come  into  your 
thoughts?" 

"No,  something  else,"  said  Rico.  "I  know 
now  how  one  plays  'You  lambkins  come 
down.'  If  I  only  had  a  violin."  This  wish 
must  have  been  close  to  Rico's  heart,  for  it 
came  out  with  a  deep  sigh.  Stineli  was 
at  once  full  of  compassion  and  venturous 
thoughts. 

"We  will  buy  one  together,"  she  suddenly 
cried  with  great  joy  of  the  help  that  had  come 
into  her  mind.  "I  have  many  coins  which 
grandmother  has  given  me.  I  think  I  have 
as  many  as  twelve,  how  many  have  you?" 

"None  at  all,"  Rico  said  sadly.     "Father 
gave  me  a  few  before  he  went  away.     But  my 
aunt  said  that  I  would  only  spend  them,  and 
[13] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

has  taken  them  and  locked  them  in  her  chest 
up  in  the  attic." 

But  Stineli  did  not  lose  heart.  "Perhaps 
we  have  enough  money,  and  I  am  sure  grand 
mother  will  give  me  a  little  more,"  she  said 
comfortingly.  "Do  you  know,  Rico,  I  do  not 
think  that  a  violin  will  cost  much ;  it  is  nothing 
but  wood  with  four  strings  pulled  tight  on  it, 
that  cannot  cost  much.  You  must  ask  the 
teacher  tomorrow  what  his  violin  has  cost,  and 
then  we  will  look  for  one." 

So  it  was  arranged,  and  Stineli  thought  that 
she  would  do  at  home  all  she  possibly  could, 
and  she  would  get  up  quite  early  and  kindle  the 
fire  before  her  mother  was  up;  for  when  she 
kept  on  doing  something  extra  early  and  late, 
then  her  grandmother  often  stuck  a  coin  in  her 
pocket. 

The  next  morning  when  school  was  out, 
Stineli  went  out  alone,  and  she  stopped  at  the 
corner  of  the  schoolhouse  and  waited  for  Rico, 
who  was  now  to  ask  the  teacher  about  the 
violin.  He  did  not  come  out  for  very  long  and 
Stineli  kept  peeping  about  with  increasing  im 
patience  from  behind  the  woodpile ;  but  it  was 
only  the  other  boys  who  were  still  standing 
here  and  there.  But  finally,  Rico  came  from 
behind  the  woodpile.  Now  he  was  here! 
[14] 


THE   OLD   SCHOOLMASTER'S   VIOLIN 

"What  did  he  say  that  it  cost?"  Stineli 
called  out  to  Rico,  holding  her  breath  with 
expectation. 

"I  did  not  like  to  ask,"  Rico  answered 
despairingly. 

"What  a  pity!"  said  Stineli  and  stood  there 
quite  dumbfounded,  but  not  for  long.  "It 
does  not  matter,  Rico,"  she  said,  quite  happy 
again,  and  took  his  hand  to  go  home,  "you  can 
ask  tomorrow.  I  have  this  morning  received 
another  penny  from  grandmother,  because  I 
was  up  when  she  came  into  the  kitchen." 

But  things  went  the  same  way  the  next  day 
and  the  day  after.  Rico  stayed  every  day  half 
an  hour  before  the  teacher's  door  and  did  not 
go  in  to  ask  his  question.  Then  Stineli 
thought:  " If  he  does  not  ask  for  another  three 
days,  then  I  shall  ask  the  price."  But  on  the 
fourth  day  when  Rico  again  stood  hesitatingly 
before  the  door,  it  opened  suddenly,  and  the 
teacher  came  hastily  out,  and  gave  Rico  such  a 
push  that  the  slight  little  fellow  flew  several 
steps  backward.  The  teacher  stood  there 
much  surprised  and  rather  angry.  "What 
does  that  mean,  Rico?"  he  asked  when  the  boy 
stood  in  his  old  place  again.  "Why  do  you 
come  to  a  door  and  do  not  knock,  if  you  have 
some  business  there;  if  you  have  nothing  to 
[15] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

do  there,  why  don't  you  go  away?  But  if 
you  have  a  message  for  me,  then  you  can  give 
it  to  me  here.  What  do  you  want?" 

"How  much  does  a  violin  cost?"  came  from 
Rico's  mouth  in  great  haste,  because  he  was 
afraid. 

The  schoolmaster's  displeasure  increased 
visibly.  "Rico,  what  shall  I  think  of  you?" 
he  asked  with  a  severe  countenance.  "Do 
you  come  to  your  teacher's  door  to  ask  useless 
questions,  or  have  you  some  purpose?  What 
did  you  mean  to  say  by  that?" 

"I  did  not  mean  to  say  anything,"  Rico  said 
shyly.  "  I  only  wanted  to  ask,  what  a  violin  is 
worth." 

"You  did  not  understand  me,  Rico,  now  pay 
close  attention  to  what  I  tell  you :  a  person  says 
something  and  has  a  purpose  in  his  mind;  if  he 
has  no  purpose,  they  are  useless  words.  Now 
listen  well,  Rico.  Did  you  put  the  question 
without  any  purpose,  or  from  curiosity,  or  did 
someone  send  you,  who  would  like  to  buy  a 
violin?" 

"I  should  like  to  buy  one,"  said  Rico,  some 
what  more  decisively;  but  he  was  much  fright 
ened  when  the  teacher  in  great  anger  cried: 

"What,  what  do  you  say?  Such  a — lost, 
senseless,  foreign  little  boy  as  you  are,  wants  to 
[16] 


THE   OLD   SCHOOLMASTER'S   VIOLIN 

buy  a  violin?  Do  you  know  what  a  violin  is? 
Do  you  know  how  old  I  was  and  what  I  had 
learned  before  I  could  buy  a  violin?  I  was 
teacher,  a  full  teacher,  twenty-two  years  old, 
and  had  my  appointment!  And  a  little  fellow 
as  you  are!  And  now  I  will  tell  you  what  a 
violin  costs.  I  have  paid  six  hard  florins  for  it. 
Can  you  imagine  the  amount?  Let  us  see  how 
many  blutzgers  that  would  make:  one  florin 
has  one  hundred  blutzgers,  then  six  florins 
must  be  six  times  one  hundred.  How  many 
are  there?  How  many?  Well,  Rico,  you  are 
not  usually  one  of  the  stupid  ones.  How 
many?" 

"  Six  hundred,"  Rico  said  softly,  for  his  voice 
refused  him  obedience  from  pure  fright,  when 
he  comprehended  the  number  and  compared 
Stineli's  twelve  blutzgers  with  it. 

"And  then,  little  boy,  what  do  you  think?" 
the  teacher  continued.  "Do  you  think  that 
one  just  takes  the  violin  in  his  hand  and  it  be 
gins  to  make  music?  No,  indeed,  something 
else  has  to  be  done  before  one  can  play.  Come 
in  here," — and  the  teacher  opened  the  door 
and  took  the  violin  from  the  wall — "there, 
take  it  in  your  arm  and  the  bow  in  your  hand; 
so,  little  boy,  and  if  you  can  bring  out  c,  d,  e,  f , 
I  will  give  you  half  a  florin." 
[17] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

Rico  had  really  the  violin  in  his  arm ;  his  eyes 
shone  like  fire;  c,  d,  e,  f,  he  played  firmly  and 
quite  correctly. 

"You  rogue!"  the  teacher  exclaimed  with 
astonishment.  "Who  has  taught  you  that? 
How  can  you  find  the  notes?" 

"I  can  do  something  else  if  I  may  play  it," 
said  Rico  and  looked  longingly  at  the  instru 
ment  in  his  arm. 

"Play  it!"  said  the  teacher.  Now  Rico 
played  with  all  firmness  and  eyes  beaming  with 

joy: 

'You  lambkins  come  down 

From  sun-covered  height, 
The  day  is  departing, 
It  soon  will  be  night." 

The  teacher  had  sat  down  on  a  chair  and  had 
put  on  his  glasses.  He  looked  with  serious 
study  now  at  Rico's  fingers,  then  at  his  spark 
ling  eyes,  and  then  back  to  the  fingers.  Rico 
had  finished. 

"Come  here,  Rico!" 

The  teacher  moved  his  chair  into  the  light 
and  Rico  had  to  stand  directly  in  front  of  him. 
"So,  now  I  have  to  talk  with  you.  Your 
father  is  an  Italian,  Rico,  and  you  see,  down 
below  all  kinds  of  things  happen  of  which  we 
[18] 


THE   OLD   SCHOOLMASTER'S   VIOLIN 

here,  in  the  mountains,  know  nothing.  Now 
look  right  in  my  eyes  and  tell  me  uprightly  and 
truthfully,  how  you  managed  to  play  this 
melody  without  mistake  on  my  violin." 

Rico  looked  at  the  teacher  with  open,  truth 
ful  eyes  and  said:  "I  have  learned  from  you, 
how  to  play  the  verses  in  the  singing  lessons 
where  we  sing  them  so  often." 

These  words  gave  the  matter  a  quite  differ 
ent  turn.  The  teacher  rose  and  walked  a  few 
times  up  and  down  the  room.  Then  he  him 
self  was  the  cause  of  this  wonderful  phenome 
non;  there  was,  then,  no  witchery.  With  a 
reconciled  mind  he  drew  his  purse  from  its 
keeping-place  and  gave  Rico  a  half -florin,  say 
ing:  "Here  is  your  half -florin,  Rico,  it  is  yours 
by  right.  Continue  as  you  have  begun  and 
pay  close  attention  to  the  violin  playing  as  long 
as  you  go  to  school,  then  you  can  bring  it  to 
something,  and  in  twelve  or  fourteen  years  the 
time  will  have  come  when  you,  too,  can  buy  a 
violin.  Now  you  may  go." 

Rico  cast  one  more  look  at  the  violin,  then 
he  went  out  with  a  very  sad  heart. 

Stineli  came  from  behind  the  woodpile. 
"This  time  you  have  stayed  a  long  time. 
Have  you  asked?" 

"Everything  is  lost,"  said  Rico,  and  his  eyes 
[19] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

came  so  close  together  from  trouble,  that  a 
thick,  black  line  was  over  both  eyes.  "A 
violin  costs  six  hundred  blutzgers  and  in  four 
teen  years  I  may  be  able  to  buy  one,  when 
everyone  is  long  since  dead.  Who  would 
want  to  be  alive  in  fourteen  years.  There,  you 
may  have  that,  I  do  not  want  it."  With  these 
words  he  pressed  the  half -florin  into  her  hand. 

"Six  hundred  blutzgers!"  repeated  Stineli, 
full  of  horror.  "But  who  gave  you  this  piece 
of  money?" 

Rico  now  told  her  everything  that  had  hap 
pened  at  the  teacher's  house  and  said  again  the 
words  of  greatest  sorrow:  "Now  everything  is 
lost." 

Stineli  wanted  to  give  him  back  the  half- 
florin,  as  a  small  comfort;  but  he  was  quite 
angry  with  the  innocent  half -florin  and  refused 
to  take  it. 

Then  Stineli  said:  "I  will  put  it  with  my 
blutzgers  and  we  will  share  in  the  money 
together,  and  everything  belongs  to  us  both." 

This  time  Stineli  too  was  very  downcast,  but 
when  she  came  with  Rico  around  the  corner,  to 
the  field-path,  the  narrow  path  lay  so  beautiful 
in  the  sun  up  to  the  cottage  door,  and  in  front 
of  the  door  the  spot  shone  so  white,  that  Stineli 
cried  out:  "Look,  look,  summer  is  coming, 
[20] 


THE   OLD   SCHOOLMASTER'S   VIOLIN 

Rico,  and  we  can  go  again  into  the  woods 
above,  then  you  will  be  glad  again.  Shall  we 
go  next  Sunday?" 

"I  shall  never  be  glad  again,"  said  Rico, 
"but  if  you  want  to  go  I  will  go  with  you." 

At  the  door  it  was  decided  that  they  would 
go  across  to  the  forest  height,  and  joy  was 
again  on  top  in  Stineli.  During  the  week  she 
did  what  she  could,  and  that  was  much.  Peterli 
and  Sami  and  Urschli  had  the  measles,  and  in 
the  barn  a  goat  was  sick,  and  had  to  have  hot 
water  very  often.  Stineli  had  to  run  here  and 
there  and  lend  a  hand  everywhere,  as  soon 
as  she  came  from  school,  and  Saturday  the 
whole  day,  until  late  in  the  evening,  and  even 
then  she  had  still  to  clean  the  feeding-pail. 
And  the  father  said  in  the  evening: 

"Stineli  is  real  handy." 


[21] 


CHAPTER  IV 

The  Distant,  Nameless  Lake 

HEN  Stineli  opened  her  eyes  on  the 
Sunday  morning  she  had  a  great  joy 
in  her  heart,  and  at  first  she  did  not 
know  the  reason,  until  she  remembered 
that  it  was  Sunday,  and  that  her  grand 
mother  had  said  late  in  the  evening:  "Tomor 
row  you  must  have  the  whole  afternoon;  it 
belongs  to  you." 

When  the  midday  meal  was  over,  and 
Stineli  had  put  away  all  the  plates  and  dishes, 
and  had  washed  the  table,  Peterli  called  out: 
"Come  to  me,  Stineli!"  and  the  two  others  in 
bed  shouted:  "No,  come  to  me!"  and  the 
father  said:  "No,  Stineli  must  look  after  the 
goat." 

But  the  grandmother  went  out  into  the 
kitchen  and  beckoned  to  Stineli.  "Go  now," 
she  said.  "I  will  look  after  the  goat  and  the 
children,  and  when  the  evening  bell  rings,  then 
you  both  will  come  home."  The  grandmother 
knew  that  there  were  two  of  them. 

Now  Stineli  shot  away  like  a  bird,  for  which 


THE  DISTANT  NAMELESS  LAKE 

one  has  opened  the  cage  door,  and  across  the 
way  stood  Rico,  who  had  already  waited  a  long 
time.  Both  marched  over  the  meadows  to 
ward  the  wood-covered  height.  The  sun  was 
shining  on  all  the  mountains  and  the  blue  sky 
was  over  them.  On  the  shady  side  they  had  to 
walk  a  little  in  the  snow  until  they  came  higher 
but  the  sun  rose  and  it  shone  on  the  lake,  and 
there  were  lovely  dry  places  on  the  mountain 
side,  right  over  the  water.  There  the  children 
sat  down;  a  sharp  wind  was  blowing  over  the 
height  and  sang  around  their  ears.  Stineli  was 
filled  with  pleasure  and  joy.  She  kept  on  cry 
ing:  "Look,  look,  Rico,  the  sun!  Oh,  how 
beautiful!  Now  summer  is  coming;  look  how 
the  lake  glitters.  There  cannot  be  a  more 
beautiful  lake  than  this  one,"  she  said  con 
fidently. 

"Ah,  Stineli,  you  should  just  see  the  lake  I 
mean,"  and  Rico  looked  over  the  lake  so  lost  in 
thought,  as  if  that  which  he  should  like  to  see 
was  there  where  nothing  could  be  seen.  "  You 
see  there  are  no  such  black  fir-trees  with  nee 
dles  ;  there  are  such  shiny  green  leaves  and  large 
red  flowers,  and  the  mountains  do  not  stand  so 
high  and  black  and  so  near,  they  are  far  beyond 
the  lake  and  are  quite  violet,  and  in  the  sky 
and  on  the  lake  everything  is  golden  and  still 
[23] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

and  warm;  there  the  wind  does  not  act  so,  and 
one's  shoes  are  not  always  full  of  snow,  and  one 
can  always  sit  on  the  ground  and  look  around." 

Stineli  was  quite  drawn  along;  she  already 
saw  the  red  flowers  and  the  golden  lake  before 
her,  that  must  indeed  be  so  beautiful. 

"Perhaps  sometime  you  may  go  there  again 
and  see  the  golden  lake  and  everything;  do  you 
know  the  way?" 

"One  goes  up  the  Maloja,  I  have  been  there 
with  my  father;  and  there  he  pointed  out  the 
road  to  me,  it  goes  down  the  whole  mountain, 
always  winding  round  and  round,  and  far 
below  is  the  lake,  but  so  very,  very  far,  that 
one  can  hardly  get  there." 

"Oh,  that  is  quite  easy,"  said  Stineli,  "you 
must  just  keep  on  walking,  then  you  will  surely 
get  there  at  last." 

"But  father  has  told  me  something  else, you 
see,  Stineli :  if  one  goes  a  long  way,  and  one  goes 
into  an  inn  and  eats  and  sleeps  there,  then 
one  must  pay,  and  so  one  must  always  have 
money." 

"Oh,  we  have  a  lot  of  money,"  cried  Stineli 
triumphantly.  But  Rico  did  not  triumph  with 
her. 

"That  is  just  as  good  as  nothing,  I  know 
that  from  the  violin,"  Rico  said  sadly. 
[24]    ' 


THE  DISTANT  NAMELESS  LAKE 

"Then  stay  home,  Rico,  see,  it  is  beautiful 
at  home." 

Rico  sat  quite  thoughtful  for  a  while,  his 
head  resting  on  his  arm  and  his  eyebrows  met. 
Now  he  turned  again  to  Stineli,  who  had  been 
pulling  up  the  tender,  green  moss,  and  was 
making  a  little  bed  of  it,  two  pillows  and  a 
cover.  She  was  going  to  bring  them  to  sick 
Urschli.  "You  say,  Stineli,  that  I  should 
stay  at  home;  but  do  you  see,  I  feel  as  if  I  do 
not  know  where  I  am  at  home." 

"What  do  you  say  ?  "  cried  Stineli,  and  threw 
a  whole  handful  of  moss  away  from  pure  aston 
ishment.  "Here  you  are  at  home,  of  course. 
One  is  always  at  home  where  one  has  father 
and  moth—  here  she  suddenly  stopped. 
Rico  had  no  mother  and  his  father  had  gone 
away  a  long  time  ago,  and  the  aunt — Stineli 
never  came  near  the  aunt,  she  had  never  given 
her  a  kind  word — she  did  not  know  what  to 
say.  But  Stineli  could  not  remain  long  in  such 
an  uncertain  mood.  Rico  had  again  begun  to 
wonder.  Suddenly  she  seized  his  arm  and 
cried : 

"I  should  like  to  know  something.  What  is 
the  name  of  the  lake  where  it  is  so  beautiful?" 

Rico  thought  for  a  while.     "I  do  not  know 
the  name,"  he  said,  being  surprised  himself. 
[25] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

Then  Stineli  proposed  that  they  should  ask 
someone  what  it  was  called,  for  if  Rico  ever 
got  enough  money  and  could  go,  then  he  would 
have  to  ask  for  the  road,  and  to  do  that,  he  was 
obliged  to  know  the  name. 

Now  they  began  to  consult  whom  they  could 
ask:  the  teacher  or  the  grandmother.  Then 
Rico  thought  that  his  father  would  know  best 
and  he  would  ask  him  as  soon  as  he  should 
return. 

Meanwhile  time  had  sped  and  suddenly,  far 
away,  the  children  heard  the  faint  ringing  of  a 
bell.  They  knew  the  tone,  it  was  the  prayer- 
bell.  Both  jumped  up  and  they  ran  hand  in 
hand  through  shrubs  and  down  the  hillside  and 
over  the  meadow,  and  the  bell  had  not  stopped 
long  when  they  stood  before  the  door  where  the 
grandmother  was  looking  for  them. 

Stineli  had  to  go  into  the  house  at  once  and 
the  grandmother  said  quickly  to  Rico:  "You, 
too,  go  right  into  the  house  and  do  not  stay 
before  the  door." 

The  grandmother  had  never  told  him  that 
before,  although  he  always  did  so,  for  he  had 
no  desire  to  go  into  the  house,  and  he  always 
stood  for  some  time  outside  the  door,  before 
he  opened  it.  But  he  obeyed  the  grandmother 
and  went  in  at  once. 

[26] 


CHAPTER  V 

Rico  Learns  the  Name  of  his  Lake 

HE  aunt  was  not  in  the  room,  so  Rico 
went  out  again  and  opened  the  kitchen 
door.  There  she  was,  but  before  he 
could  enter,  she  lifted  her  finger  and 
said:  "Bst!  Bst!  don't  open  and  shut 
all  doors  and  do  not  make  such  an  awful 
noise.  Go  into  the  living-room,  and  keep 
quiet.  Your  father  lies  up-stairs  in  the  bed 
room;  they  have  brought  him  on  a  wagon,  he 
is  ill." 

Rico  went  in  and  sat  down  on  the  bench, 
which  was  along  the  wall,  and  did  not  move. 
So  he  sat  a  good  half  hour.  The  aunt  was 
rummaging  about  the  kitchen.  Then  Rico 
thought  he  would  go  quite  softly  and  look  into 
his  father's  room.  His  father  might  want  to 
eat  something  for  supper,  for  supper-time  had 
long  passed. 

He  crept  behind  the  stove  and  up  a  narrow 
stair  into  the  room.  After  a  short  time  he 
came  back  again  and  went  at  once  out  into  the 
kitchen  and  to  the  aunt.  Then  he  said  softly : 
"Aunt,  come!" 

[27] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

The  latter  was  on  the  point  of  yelling  at  him 
when  her  glance  fell  on  his  face :  it  was  deathly 
pale;  cheeks  and  lips  were  like  a  sheet,  and  his 
eyes  looked  so  black  that  the  aunt  was  almost 
afraid.  "What  is  the  matter?"  she  asked 
hastily,  and  followed  him  involuntarily.  He 
went  softly  up  the  stairs  and  into  the  room. 
There  lay  the  father  on  his  bed  with  fixed  eyes ; 
he  was  dead. 

"Oh,  oh,"  screamed  the  aunt,  and  screaming 
she  ran  out  of  the  door  on  the  other  side  of  the 
room  which  led  to  the  passage,  down  the  stairs, 
and  straight  across  the  road  and  into  the  other 
house,  and  begged  the  neighbor  and  grand 
mother  to  go  over.  From  there  she  ran  to  the 
teacher,  and  then  to  the  selectman. 

So  one  after  the  other  came  and  entered  the 
quiet  room,  until  it  was  full  of  people,  for  one 
heard  from  the  other  what  had  happened. 
And  in  the  midst  of  this  confusion  and  hear 
ing  the  many  words  of  lamentation  from  all 
neighbors,  Rico  stood  at  the  bed,  without  say 
ing  a  word,  never  moving,  only  looking  at  his 
father.  Through  the  whole  week  people  who 
wanted  to  look  at  the  dead  man,  and  hear 
from  the  aunt  how  things  had  happened,  came 
daily  to  the  house,  so  that  Rico  heard  the  story 
over  and  over.  His  father  had  had  work  below 
[28] 


RICO  LEARNS  THE  NAME  OF  HIS  LAKE 

near  St.  Gallen  where  a  railroad  was  being 
built.  He  had  been  struck  on  his  head  by  the 
blasting  of  a  rock,  and  had  a  deep  wound,  and 
since  he  could  no  longer  work,  he  had  wanted 
to  go  home,  to  take  care  of  himself  until  he  was 
better.  But  the  long  journey,  partly  on  foot, 
and  partly  lying  in  an  open  wagon,  had  been 
too  much  for  him.  He  arrived  home  Sunday 
toward  evening,  and  lay  down  on  his  bed, 
never  to  rise  again.  He  had  passed  away, 
without  anyone  seeing  him,  for  Rico  had  found 
him  already  dead. 

The  Sunday  after,  the  man  was  buried. 
Rico  was  the  only  mourner  who  followed  the 
coffin ;  a  few  kind  neighbors  had  joined  him ;  so 
the  procession  went  to  Sils.  Rico  heard  how 
the  minister  in  the  church  read  aloud:  "The 
departed  man's  name  was  Henrico  Trevillo 
and  he  was  born  at  Peschiera  on  the  Garda 
Lake." 

It  seemed  to  Rico  that  he  heard  something 
that  he  had  known  before,  but  he  had  not  been 
able  to  put  it  together.  He  had  always  seen 
the  lake  before  him,  when  he  had  sung  with  his 

father: 

"Una  sera 
In  Peschiera." 
[29] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

But  he  had  not  known  why.  He  had  to  repeat 
softly  the  names,  and  a  number  of  old  songs 
appeared  with  them  in  his  mind. 

When  he  wandered  home,  quite  alone,  he 
saw  the  grandmother  out  on  the  woodblock 
and  Stineli  beside  her.  She  beckoned  to  him. 
When  he  came  she  stuck  a  piece  of  pear-cake 
into  his  pocket,  as  she  had  done  to  Stineli  a 
little  while  before,  and  said  that  they  both 
should  take  a  walk,  for  Rico  must  not  be  alone 
on  this  day.  Then  the  children  walked  out 
into  the  bright  evening.  The  grandmother 
remained  sitting  on  her  wood  stump  and  looked 
compassionately  after  the  small  dark  boy  until 
they  disappeared  out  of  sight.  Then  she  said 
softly  to  herself : 

"No,  what  He  does  and  lets  be  done 
For  thy  own  good  is  meant." 


[30] 


CHAPTER  VI 

Grandmother  Tells  about  Rico's  Mother 

N  the  road  from  Sils  the  teacher  came 
walking  up,  leaning  heavily  on  his 
staff.  He  had  attended  the  funeral. 
He  coughed  and  gasped,  and  when  he 
arrived  where  the  grandmother  was 
sitting  and  had  wished  her  a  good  evening, 
he  added:  "If  you  allow  it,  neighbor,  I  will 
take  a  seat  beside  you  for  a  little  while,  for 
I  have  some  trouble  with  my  throat  and  my 
chest;  but  what  can  the  likes  of  us  say  with 
soon  seventy  years  behind  us,  if  one  buries,  as 
today,  such  a  young  man.  He  was  not  thirty- 
five  years  old." 

He  had  sat  down  beside  the  grandmother. 
"I,  too,  have  to  think  of  that,"  said  the  latter, 
"that  I,  a  woman  of  seventy -five,  remain,  and 
here  and  there  a  young  one  has  to  go,  of  whom 
one  should  think  that  he  was  needed." 

"No  doubt  old  people  are  left  for  some  good, 
where  would  otherwise  be  the  example  for  the 
young?"  remarked  the  teacher.  "But,  neigh 
bor,  what  do  you  think  will  become  of  the  little 
fellow  across  the  way?" 
[31] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

:<Yes,  what  will  become  of  him?"  the  grand 
mother  repeated.  "I,  too,  ask  that,  and  if  I 
had  to  look  to  mankind,  then  I  should  not 
know  how  to  answer.  But  there  is  still  a 
Father  in  heaven,  who  sees  the  forsaken  chil 
dren.  He  will,  I  am  sure,  find  a  way  for  the 
little  boy." 

"Tell  me,  neighbor,  how  did  it  happen,  that 
the  Italian  married  the  daughter  of  your 
neighbor  across  the  way?  One  could  never 
find  out  anything  about  this  man." 

"It  went  just  as  it  usually  goes,  good  neigh 
bor,"  said  the  grandmother.  "You  remember 
that  my  old  friend,  Mrs.  Anne-Dete,  had  lost 
all  her  children  and  her  husband  also,  and  lived 
alone  across  the  way  in  the  cottage,  with 
Marie-Seppli,  who  was  a  merry  child.  It  may 
be  eleven  or  twelve  years  by  now,  when  Tre- 
villo  came  here  for  the  first  time.  He  had 
work  on  the  foot  of  the  Maloja,  and  came  down 
here  with  the  young  fellows.  Marie-Seppli 
and  he  had  hardly  seen  each  other,  when  they 
agreed  that  they  would  marry.  And  one  has 
to  say  that  of  Trevillo,  he  was  not  only  a  very 
handsome  fellow,  whom  everyone  liked,  but 
also  a  respectable  and  upright  man.  Anne- 
Dete  herself  took  delight  in  him.  To  be  sure 
she  would  have  liked  to  have  had  the  young 
[32] 


GRANDMOTHER  TELLS  ABOUT  RICO 

couple  remain  with  her  in  her  cottage,  and 
Trevillo  would  gladly  have  done  so;  he  got  on 
well  with  his  mother-in-law,  and  as  for  his 
wife,  he  did  whatever  she  wanted.  But  he  had 
taken  her  often  for  a  walk  up  the  Maloja  and 
had  looked  down  the  road,  which  one  can  see 
from  there,  which  leads  into  the  valley,  and  he 
had  told  her  how  things  were  down  below, 
where  he  had  been  at  home.  Then  Marie- 
Seppli  had  taken  it  into  her  head,  that  she 
wanted  to  go  down,  and  nothing  could  be  done, 
however  much  her  mother  begged  and  grieved, 
not  to  go  down  below  to  live.  But  Trevillo 
said  that  she  must  have  no  anxiety  on  that 
account,  that  he  had  a  small  farm  and  a  little 
house  down  below,  he  had  wanted  to  go  out  a 
little  into  the  world,  that  was  how  he  had  come 
to  Sils-Maria. — Now  Marie-Seppli  had  won, 
and  after  the  wedding  she  wanted  to  go  at  once 
down  the  mountain.  She  wrote  to  her  mother 
that  she  was  very  happy  and  that  Trevillo  was 
the  best  of  husbands. 

"  But  after  five  or  six  years,  Trevillo  one  day 
stepped  into  the  room  of  my  neighbor  Anne- 
Dete,  and  led  a  little  boy  by  the  hand  and  said: 
'Here,  mother,  this  is  the  only  thing  that  is  left 
me  of  Marie-Seppli;  she  lies  buried  below  with 
her  other  little  children.  He  was  her  first  and 

[33] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

dearest.'  She  has  told  me  that.  Then  he  had 
sat  down  on  the  bench,  where  he  had  seen 
Marie-Seppli  for  the  first  time,  and  had  said, 
here  he  would  stay  with  his  little  boy,  if  it 
suited  his  mother;  for  he  had  not  been  able  to 
bear  it  any  longer  down  below. 

"Joy  and  sorrow  came  together  for  Anne- 
Dete.  Little  Rico  was  about  four  years  old 
and  was  a  quiet,  thoughtful  child,  without  noise 
and  fault,  and  he  was  her  last  joy.  A  year 
after,  she  died,  and  advised  Trevillo  to  take  the 
cousin  of  Anne-Dete  into  his  house  for  the 
household  and  the  child." 

"So,  so,"  observed  the  teacher  when  the 
grandmother  was  silent,  "I  did  not  know  any 
thing  of  all  that.  Well,  it  is  possible  that  rela 
tions  on  Trevillo's  side  may  turn  up  as  time 
passes,  and  they  can  be  urged  to  do  something." 

"Relations,"  sighed  the  grandmother,  "the 
aunt  is  a  relation,  but  he  receives  few  good 
words  from  her  in  a  whole  year!" 

The  teacher  rose  laboriously.  "It  goes 
down  hill  with  me,  neighbor,"  he  said,  shaking 
his  head,  "I  do  not  know  what  has  played 
havoc  with  my  strength." 

Grandmother  cheered  him  up,  saying  he  was 
a  young  man  in  comparison  with  her.     But  she 
had  to  wonder  about  how  slowly  he  walked. 
[34] 


CHAPTER  VII 

A  Precious  Inheritance 

OW  there  came  many  beautiful  summer 
days  and  whenever  the  grandmother 
could  do  it,  she  arranged  that  Stineli 
got  a  free  moment;  but  always  more 
work  had  to  be  done  in  the  house. 
Rico  stood  many  an  hour  on  his  doorstep  and 
wondered  and  looked  across  at  the  door,  to 
see  whether  Stineli  was  coming. 

Toward  the  end  of  September,  when  the  peo 
ple  were  sitting  out  doors,  to  enjoy  the  last 
warm  evenings,  the  teacher  too  sat  now  and 
then  outside  his  door;  but  he  looked  so  thin, 
and  coughed  more  and  more,  and  one  morning, 
when  he  wanted  to  get  up  he  had  no  strength, 
and  fell  back  in  his  pillows.  There  he  lay  very 
still  and  began  to  think  about  all  kinds  of 
things,  what  would  happen  if  he  had  to  die. 
He  had  no  children  and  his  wife  had  been  dead 
long  since,  only  an  old  servant  was  with  him  in 
his  house.  He  had  principally  to  think  of  what 
was  to  become  of  all  the  things  that  belonged 
to  him,  if  he  were  no  longer  there,  and  since  his 
[35] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

violin  was  hanging  on  the  wall  just  opposite 
him,  he  said  to  himself:  "I  should  have  to 
leave  that,  too." 

And  then  he  thought  of  the  day,  when  Rico 
had  stood  there  and  had  played  on  the  violin, 
and  he  would  rather  that  the  little  boy  should 
have  it,  than  a  distant  cousin,  who  did  not 
know  anything  about  playing  a  violin.  So  he 
thought  he  might  let  Rico  have  it  cheap,  for, 
no  doubt,  the  father  must  have  left  something 
to  his  little  boy.  But  then  he  remembered 
that,  if  he  had  to  leave  his  violin,  he  could  no 
longer  use  the  money.  But  he  could  not  give 
an  instrument  away  for  which  he  had  paid 
six  hard  florins.  So  he  thought,  keener  and 
always  keener,  how  he  need  not  give  the 
violin,  for  nothing;  but  at  the  end  of  all  think 
ing  it  came  always  clearly  before  his  eyes  that 
there,  where  he  could  not  take  his  violin,  noth 
ing  else  could  be  taken,  and  all  had  to  stay 
where  it  was. 

Toward  evening,  fever  gained  the  upperhand 
more  and  more  and  he  lay  during  the  whole 
night  in  a  struggle  with  many  thoughts,  and 
old  things,  which  he  had  long  since  forgotten, 
appeared  to  him,  and  pursued  him;  so  that  in 
the  morning  he  lay  there  completely  exhausted 
and  had  only  one  thought :  he  should  like  to  do 
[36] 


A  PRECIOUS  INHERITANCE 

something  kind,  and  perform  some  good  deed 
right  away. 

He  knocked  with  his  cane  on  the  wall  until 
the  old  servant  came,  and  he  sent  her  up  to  the 
grandmother,  that  she  might  come  to  him,  but 
asked  that  she  come  very  soon. 

The  grandmother  entered  his  room  soon 
afterward,  and  before  she  could  ask  how  it  was 
with  him,  he  said :  "  Be  so  good  as  to  take  down 
the  violin  and  bring  it  to  the  little  orphan;  I 
will  give  it  to  him;  tell  him  to  look  after  it 
well." 

The  grandmother  had  to  wonder  much,  and 
had  to  exclaim:  "What  will  Rico  do!  What 
will  Rico  say!"  Then  she  noticed  that  the 
teacher  had  become  a  little  restless,  as  if  great 
haste  were  needed.  So  she  left  him  and  has 
tened  as  quickly  as  she  could,  with  her  gift 
under  her  arm,  over  the  field,  for  she  could 
hardly  wait  to  tell  Rico  of  his  good  luck. 

Rico  stood  at  the  door  and  at  a  sign  from  the 
grandmother  he  ran  to  meet  her. 

"There,  Rico,"  she  said,  and  held  the  violin 
toward  him,  "the  teacher  sends  you  this  for  a 
present,  it  is  yours." 

Rico  stood  as  in  a  dream,  but  it  was  true; 
grandmother  was  really  holding  the  violin  out 
to  him. 

[37] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

"Take  it,  Rico,  it  is  yours,"  she  repeated. 

Trembling  from  joy  and  excitement,  Rico 
now  seized  his  violin,  took  it  in  his  arm  and 
stared  at  it,  as  if  it  would  be  taken  again  from 
him  if  he  were  to  look  away. 

"You  must  take  good  care  of  it,"  the  grand 
mother  completed  her  mission,  but  she  had  to 
laugh  a  little,  for  it  seemed  to  her  that  the 
admonition  was  unnecessary.  "And  Rico,  do 
not  forget  the  teacher,  and  never  forget  what 
he  has  done  for  you;  he  is  very  sick." 

The  grandmother  went  now  into  her  house, 
and  Rico  hastened  with  his  treasure  upstairs  to 
his  room;  he  was  always  alone  there. 

He  sat  down  and  played  and  played  and  for 
got  eating  and  drinking  and  all  about  the  time. 
Only  when  it  was  getting  dark,  he  got  up  and 
went  downstairs.  The  aunt  came  out  of  the 
kitchen  and  said :  "You  can  eat  tomorrow,  you 
have  behaved  in  such  a  way  today,  that  you  do 
not  deserve  anything." 

Rico  felt  no  hunger,  although  he  had  eaten 
nothing  since  morning.  He  had  not  thought 
of  eating  when  he  came  down,  so  he  went  quite 
contentedly  across  the  way  into  the  other 
house,  and  right  into  the  kitchen.  Stineli 
stood  by  the  hearth  and  was  kindling  the  fire. 
When  she  caught  sight  of  Rico,  she  gave  a  loud 
[38] 


A  PRECIOUS  INHERITANCE 

yodel,  for  the  whole  day  long,  since  the  grand 
mother  had  told  her  what  had  happened,  the 
ground  had  been  burning  under  her  feet,  be 
cause  she  could  not  get  out  to  give  vent  to  her 
joy;  but  she  could  not  stay  still  for  another 
moment.  Now,  she  was  beside  herself  and 
kept  on  shouting:  "Now  you  have  it!  Now 
you  have  it!" 

At  this  noise  the  grandmother  came  out  of 
the  living-room,  and  Rico  went  at  once  up  to 
her  and  said:  "Grandmother,  may  I  go  and 
thank  the  teacher,  if  he  is  ill?" 

The  grandmother  thought  for  a  moment,  for 
the  teacher  had  looked  very  sick  in  the  morn 
ing;  then  she  said: 

"Wait  a  moment,  Rico,  I  will  go  with  you," 
and  she  went  to  put  on  a  clean  apron.  Then 
they  wandered  together  toward  the  school- 
house.  The  grandmother  entered  first,  then 
Rico  came  softly  after  her,  having  the  violin 
under  his  arm,  for  it  had  not  left  his  hand  since 
it  belonged  to  him. 

The  teacher  lay  there  much  exhausted. 
Rico  stepped  to  the  bed  and  looked  at  his 
violin,  and  he  could  say  hardly  a  word,  but  his 
eyes  sparkled  so,  that  the  teacher  must  have 
understood  him,  for  he  cast  a  glad  look  at  the 
boy  and  nodded  his  head.  Then  he  beckoned 
[39] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

to  the  grandmother  to  come  to  him.  Rico 
stepped  aside,  and  the  teacher  said  with  a 
weak  voice:  "Grandmother,  I  should  very 
much  like  to  have  you  repeat  the  Lord's 
prayer  for  me.  I  begin  to  feel  so  afraid." 

At  this  moment  the  church  bell  was  heard 
and  Rico  quickly  folded  his  hands  and  the 
grandmother  folded  hers  and  they  repeated  the 
Lord's  prayer.  Then  it  was  quite  still  in  the 
room.  The  grandmother  bent  a  little  and 
closed  the  lids  of  the  old  teacher,  for  he  had 
started  for  the  better  world.  Then  she  took 
Rico's  hand  and  went  out  with  him. 


[40] 


CHAPTER  VIII 

On  the  Silser  Lake 

TINELI  did  not  get  her  balance  again 
during  the  whole  week,  her  joy  was  so 
great,  but  it  also  seemed  to  her  that 
this  week  was  ten  days  longer  than 
any  other,  for  Sunday  simply  would 
not  come. 

But  when  it  came,  the  golden  sun  shining 
over  the  autumnal  heights,  as  she  arrived  with 
Rico  under  the  fir-trees,  then  such  delight  took 
possession  of  Stineli  that  she  had  to  jump 
around  about  the  moss  patches,  shouting  with 
joy,  and  then  she  sat  down  on  the  very  edge  of 
the  incline,  so  that  she  could  see  all :  the  sunny 
heights  and  the  lake  and  far  beyond  the  blue 
sky. 

Now  she  called:  "Come,  Rico,  come  here, 
we  will  sing,  long,  long!" 

Then  Rico  sat  down  beside  Stineli  and  tuned 
his  violin,  for  of  course  it  had  been  brought 
along.  Now  he  began  and  the  children  sang: 

"You  lambkins  come  down 
From  sun-covered  height — " 

[41] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

They  sang  all  the  verses,  but  Stineli  had  not 
enough  by  far.  "We  will  keep  on  singing," 
she  said  and  sang  on : 

"You  lambkins  go  over 
To  the  joy -giving  height, 
The  sun  stands  above  it 
The  wind  blows  with  might." 

And  now  Rico  sang  the  verse  with  Stineli 
and  was  glad  and  said:  "Sing  on,  Stineli!" 

Stineli  became  quite  enthusiastic  from  joy 
and  looked  up  and  down,  and  sang  again: 

"And  the  lambkins,  and  the  lambkins, 
And  the  heaven,  so  blue, 
And  the  red  and  white  flowers 
On  green  meadows'  bright  hue." 

And  Rico  played  and  sang  along  and  said: 
"Sing  still  more!" 

"And  a  boy  is  so  dreary 
And  a  maiden  so  gay, 
And  one  lake  like  the  other 
Their  water  display." 

And  Rico  laughed  too  and  sang  and  said : 
"Sing  still  more!" 

Then  Stineli  sang  once  more  and  sang  one 
verse  after  the  other: 

[42] 


ON  THE  SILSER  LAKE 

"And  the  lambkins,  and  the  lambkins 
They  sorrow  defy, 
They  jump  about  happy 
And  do  not  know  why. 

"  And  a  boy  and  a  maiden 
They  sit  by  the  lake 
And  were  he  not  fretting 
His  heart  would  not  ache." 

And  now  they  began  again  at  the  beginning 
and  sang  their  song  from  beginning  to  end  and 
were  greatly  delighted  with  it,  and  when  they 
had  finished  with  it,  they  began  afresh  and 
again  and  again,  and  so  they  sang  the  song 
about  ten  times,  all  the  verses,  and  the  more 
they  sang  it,  the  better  they  liked  it. 

Rico  then  played  a  few  melodies  which  he 
knew  from  his  father,  but  after  a  while  they 
came  back  to  their  song  and  began  to  sing  it 
anew. 

But  sometimes  Stineli  stopped  and  cried 
out:  "Now  something  comes  in  my  thought, 
how  you  can  go  down  to  the  lake,  and  need  no 
money." 

Rico  stopped  suddenly  and  looked  at  Stineli. 

"You  see,"  she  continued  excitedly,  "now 
you  have  a  violin  and  know  a  song.  You  must 
go  in  every  inn  or  tavern  to  the  room-door  and 
[43] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

sing  the  song  and  play  the  violin;  and  then  the 
people  will  give  you  something  to  eat,  for  they 
will  see  that  you  are  no  beggar.  So  you  can 
go  as  far  as  the  lake,  and  on  the  homeward  way 
you  can  do  the  same  thing." 

Rico  became  quite  thoughtful,  but  Stineli 
did  not  leave  him  time  to  be  astonished,  she 
wanted  to  sing  their  song  again. 

Because  of  all  the  singing,  they  did  not  hear 
the  prayer-bell,  and  only  when  it  began  to 
grow  dark  did  they  think  that  it  was  time  to 
go  home,  and  from  the  distance  they  saw 
the  grandmother  watching  anxiously  for  their 
return. 

But  this  time  Stineli  was  too  excited  to  have 
room  for  care  or  to  be  subdued  by  it.  She  ran 
to  the  grandmother  and  cried:  ''You  cannot 
believe,  grandmother,  how  well  Rico  can  fiddle, 
and  now  we  have  a  song  of  our  own,  only  for  us. 
We  will  sing  it  to  you  directly." 

And  before  the  grandmother  could  say  a 
word,  they  were  singing  with  clear  voices  their 
song,  from  beginning  to  the  end  accompanied 
by  the  violin.  And  the  grandmother  liked  to 
listen  to  the  fresh  young  voices.  She  had  sat 
down  on  the  stump  and  when  the  children  had 
ended,  she  said:  "Come,  Rico,  now  you  must 
play  a  song  for  me,  and  we  will  sing  it  together. 
[44] 


The  grandmother  liked  to  listen  to  the  fresh  young  voices.    . 


ON  THE  SILSER  LAKE 

Do  you  know  the  song,  *I  sing  to  Thee  with 
heart  and  mouth?" 

Rico  might  have  heard  it,  but  he  could  not 
remember  it  and  suggested  the  grandmother 
should  sing  it  first,  then  he  would  softly  play  it 
after  her,  and  then  he  would  know  it. 

"Now  I  am  to  be  a  solo-singer  with  my 
trembling  voice,"  said  the  grandmother,  but 
she  sang  quite  contentedly  one  verse  to  the 
end,  and  if  the  voice  trembled  a  little  it  was 
quite  true,  and  Rico  could  easily  follow  the 
melody,  besides  he  had  heard  it  before. 

Now  they  began,  and  before  each  stanza  the 
grandmother  spoke  the  words  to  the  children; 
and  so  they  sang  all  together: 

"I  sing  to  Thee  with  heart  and  mouth 
Oh  Thou,  my  soul's  desire, 
I  sing  and  make  Thy  name  be  known 
On  earth,  and  never  tire. 

"  I  know  Thou  art  the  fount  of  grace, 
The  source  of  life  Thou  art, 
From  which,  for  each,  will  ever  flow 
All  strength  to  th'  human  heart. 

"Why  fret'st  thou  then  in  thy  poor  mind 
And  sorrow'st  day  and  night? 
Cast  down  thy  grief  before  thy  God, 
Who  made  thee  in  His  might. 

[45] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

"  He  never  yet  has  made  mistakes 
In  His  great  government. 
No,  what  He  does,  and  lets  be  done, 
For  thy  own  good  is  meant. 

"Then  let  Him  rule,  and  further  do 
Whate'er  He  may  desire, 
Then  thou  will'st  rest  in  peace  on  earth, 
And  joy  thy  soul  acquire." 

"So,"  said  the  grandmother  contentedly, 
"that  was  a  real  evening  blessing.  Now,  chil 
dren,  you  can  go  to  rest,  and  may  God  be  with 

you." 


[46] 


CHAPTER  IX 

Mysterious  Happenings 

HEN  Rico  came  into  the  cottage,  later 
than  usual,  for  about  a  half  hour  had 
passed  during  the  singing  with  the 
grandmother,  the  aunt  came  rushing 
toward  him. 
"Are  you  beginning  already?"  she  shouted. 
"The  food  stood  for  an  hour  on  the  table,  now 
it  is  put  away.  Go  at  once  to  your  room,  and  if 
you  turn  out  a  vagabond  and  tramp,  I  am  not 
to  blame  for  it.  I  would  rather  do  I  know  not 
what,  than  take  care  of  such  a  boy  as  you  are." 
Rico  had  never  answered  a  word,  when  the 
aunt  scolded  him,  but  on  that  evening  he  looked 
at  her  and  said:  "I  can  go  out  of  your  way, 
aunt."  She  pushed  the  bolt  on  the  house-door 
so  that  it  rang,  then  she  rushed  into  her  room 
and  banged  the  door  behind  her.  Rico  went 
up  to  his  dark  room. 

On  the  following  day,  when  the  whole  large 

household,  parents,  grandmother  and  all  the 

children  were  sitting  at  their  supper,  the  aunt 

came  rushing  across  and  called  into  the  room, 

[47] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

asking  if  they  knew  anything  of  Rico,  she  did 
not  know  where  he  could  be. 

"He  will  come  all  right,  when  supper  is 
ready,"  answered  the  father  slowly. 

Now  the  aunt  came  quite  into  the  room,  for 
she  had  thought,  she  could  just  call  the  boy, 
for  he  must  be  there.  She  told  them  that  he 
had  not  come  for  his  breakfast,  nor  for  his  din 
ner,  and  he  also  had  not  slept  in  his  bed,  that 
was  still  as  it  was  yesterday,  and  she  believed 
firmly  that  he  had  gone  on  his  loafing  trips 
before  daybreak,  for  the  bolt  had  been  pushed 
back,  when  she  went  to  open  the  door;  but  she 
had  first  thought,  that  perhaps  from  annoyance 
she  had  forgotten  to  bolt  the  door,  for  no 
human  being  could  know  what  she  had  to  put 
up  with  with  that  boy. 

"Then  something  has  happened,"  said  the 
father  at  once.  "He  may  have  fallen  in  a 
crack  on  the  mountain,  that  happens  some 
times  with  such  small  boys  who  crawl  about  in 
all  places.  You  ought  to  have  spoken  of  it  a 
little  sooner,"  he  continued  slowly,  "one  ought 
to  look  for  him,  and  at  night  one  can  see 
nothing." 

Now  the  aunt  began  to  make  a  terrible  noise. 
She  said,  that  indeed  she  had  suspected  that 
they  were  going  to  blame  her.  So  it  went 

[48] 


MYSTERIOUS  HAPPENINGS 

always  if  one  had  had  to  bear  so  much  for 
years  and  had  been  silent.  "No  one  will  be 
lieve,"  she  cried — and  spoke  a  great  truth — 
"what  a  tricky,  cunning,  silent  boy  he  is,  and 
how  hard  he  has  made  my  life  for  the  last  four 
years;  he  will  become  a  vagabond,  a  tramp  and 
dangerous  loafer." 

The  grandmother  had  long  since  stopped 
eating,  had  risen  from  the  table  and  gone  over 
to  the  aunt,  who  was  still  making  a  noise. 

"Stop  that,  neighbor,  stop  that,"  the  grand 
mother  had  said,  before  the  woman  obeyed. 
"I  know  Rico  too;  ever  since  the  boy  was 
brought  to  his  grandmother,  I  have  always 
known  him.  But  if  I  were  in  your  place  I 
would  not  say  another  word,  but  should  think 
whether  the  little  fellow,  who  may  have  met 
with  an  accident,  and  who  may  be  already 
above,  standing  before  the  dear  God,  whether 
he  has  to  accuse  no  one,  who  in  his  loneliness 
has  added  great  wrong  to  him,  by  giving  him 
harsh  words." 

It  had  come  a  few  times  in  the  aunt's  mind, 
how  Rico  had  looked  at  her  the  evening  before, 
and  how  he  had  said:  "I  can  go  out  of  your 
way."  She  had  shouted  so  terribly,  to  quiet 
these  thoughts.  She  did  not  dare  to  look  at 
the  grandmother  and  said  that  she  must  go. 
[49] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

Perhaps  Rico  had  come  home,  and  she  would 
have  been  glad  to  have  seen  him. 

From  that  day  on,  the  aunt  said  never  a 
word  against  Rico  in  the  grandmother's  pres 
ence,  or  to  anyone  else.  She  believed,  as  all 
the  rest  did,  that  he  was  dead,  and  she  was 
glad  that  no  one  knew  what  he  had  said  to  her 
the  last  evening. 

In  the  morning  after  the  news,  Stineli's 
father  went  out  in  the  barn,  and  looked  for  a 
staff;  he  had  said  that  he  would  call  a  couple  of 
neighbors;  one  must  look  for  the  boy,  perhaps 
toward  the  Glacier,  where  the  landslides  were. 

Stineli  had  followed  him  and  the  father  said : 
"That  is  right,  come,  help  us  to  seek  him,  you 
can  get  into  the  corners  better  than  I  can." 

Only  after  a  long  bean  stick  had  been  found, 
she  said:  "But,  father,  if  Rico  had  perhaps 
gone  along  the  road,  then  he  cannot  have  fallen 
into  anything?" 

"Of  course  he  can,"  answered  the  father. 
"Such  senseless  boys  get  off  the  road  and  into 
the  landslides,  they  themselves  do  not  know 
how,  and  Rico  was  never  attentive." 

Stineli  knew  better  than  anyone  else,  that 

Rico  was  that,  and  from  that  moment  a  great 

fear  came  in  her  heart  and  grew  with  her  every 

day,  so  that  for  fear  she  could  neither  eat  nor 

[50] 


MYSTERIOUS  HAPPENINGS 

sleep,  and  did  her  work  as  if  she  did  not  know 
what  she  was  doing. 

Rico  was  not  found.  No  one  had  seen  any 
thing  of  him.  They  sought  no  longer,  and 
soon  the  people  found  comfort  and  said:  "It 
was  the  best  thing  for  the  orphan,  he  was  so 
forsaken  and  had  no  one." 


[51] 


CHAPTER  X 

Stineli  Tells  a  Secret 

TIT  Stineli  grew  stiller  and  thinner 
from  day  to  day.  The  little  children 
cried,  "Stineli  does  not  want  to  tell 
us  stories  and  she  never  laughs  now." 
The  mother  said  to  the  father:  " Don't 
you  see?  She  is  no  longer  the  same."  And 
the  father  said:  "That 's  because  she  is  grow 
ing.  We  must  give  her  a  little  goat's  milk 
every  morning  in  the  goat  stable." 

After  three  weeks  had  so  passed  by,  the 
grandmother  one  evening  took  Stineli  upstairs 
in  her  room  and  said:  "See,  Stineli,  I  can  well 
understand  that  you  cannot  forget  Rico;  but 
you  must  think  that  the  dear  Lord  has  taken 
him,  and  if  it  had  to  be  that,  then  it  was  good 
for  Rico,  we  shall  see  it  some  day." 

Then  Stineli  began  to  weep  louder  than  her 
grandmother  had  ever  seen  the  child,  and  kept 
on  calling  out  loud:  "The  dear  Lord  has  not 
done  it,  I  have  done  it,  grandmother,  and  there 
fore  I  feel  like  dying  from  fear,  for  I  have  put 
Rico  up  to  going  down  to  the  strange  lake,  and 
[52] 


STINELI  TELLS  A  SECRET 

now  he  has  fallen  in  a  landslide  and  is  dead, 
and  it  has  hurt  him,  too,  and  I  am  to  blame  for 
it  all."  And  Stineli  wept  and  sobbed  as  if  her 
heart  would  break. 

A  heavy  load  had  fallen  from  the  grand 
mother's  heart;  she  had  given  Rico  up  for  lost, 
and  the  painful  thought  had  pursued  her,  that 
the  little  boy  had  run  away  on  account  of  the 
bad  treatment  he  had  at  home,  and  was  per 
haps  lying  in  the  lake,  or  had  perished  in  the 
forest.  Now,  all  at  once,  new  hope  came  to 
her. 

She  quieted  Stineli  so  that  she  could  tell 
her  the  whole  story  about  the  lake,  of  which 
she  had  not  known  anything.  She  now  learned 
how  Rico  had  always  talked  of  the  lake  and 
how  he  had  been  drawn  there,  and  how  Stineli 
had  found  the  way.  She  was  quite  sure  that 
Rico  had  started  to  go  there;  but  the  father's 
words  about  the  landslide  had  taken  all  hope 
from  Stineli. 

The  grandmother  took  the  child's  hand  and 
drew  her  toward  her.  "Come,  Stineli,"  she 
said  lovingly,  "I  must  explain  something  to 
you.  You  remember  what  stands  in  the  old 
song  which  we  sang  with  Rico  the  last  evening: 

"No,  what  He  does  and  lets  be  done 
For  thy  own  good  is  meant." 
[53] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

Do  you  see,  although  the  dear  God  has  not 
done  it  Himself  as  if  He  had  let  Rico  die  in  his 
bed,  yet  the  whole  thing  was  in  His  hand,when 
you  did  something  unwise,  for  He  would  have 
been  able  to  be  master  over  such  a  little 
Stineli.  And  that  you  have  done  something 
really  foolish,  you  will  remember  your  whole 
life  long,  and  what  may  come  of  it,  when  chil 
dren  run  out  into  the  world  and  want  to  under 
take  things  of  which  they  know  nothing,  and 
never  say  a  word  of  it  to  anyone,  not  to  parents 
and  not  to  a  grandmother,  who  mean  well  with 
them.  But  now  the  dear  God  has  let  it  be 
done,  and  we  may  believe  for  sure,  that  all  will 
turn  out  for  the  best." 

"Now,  Stineli,  think  of  that,  and  never  for 
get  what  you  have  learned.  But,  because  you 
are  sorry  for  it,  from  your  heart,  you  may  go 
now  and  pray  to  the  dear  God  that  He  may 
turn  to  something  good,  the  foolish  thing  that 
you  and  Rico  have  done.  Then  you  may  be 
joyous  again,  Stineli,  and  I  am  glad  with  you, 
for  I  believe  confidently  that  Rico  is  living  and 
that  the  dear  God  will  not  forsake  him." 

From  that  day  on  Stineli  became  cheerful 

again,  and  although  Rico  was  lacking  her  on 

every  step   she  had   no  fear  nor  any  more 

reproaches  in  her  heart,  and  from  day  to  day 

[54] 


STINELI  TELLS  A  SECRET 

she  looked  across  to  the  road  to  see  whether 
Rico  was  not  coming  down  from  Maloja. 
Time  went  by  but  nothing  was  heard  of 
Rico. 


[55] 


CHAPTER  XI 

A  Long  Journey 

N  that  Sunday  evening  Rico  had  gone 
to  his  dark  room  and  had  sat  down  on 
a  chair.  He  wanted  to  stay  there  until 
the  aunt  had  gone  to  bed. 

After  Stineli  had  made  the  discovery 
how  the  journey  to  the  lake  could  be  carried 
out,  the  whole  thing  appeared  so  perfectly 
easy  to  Rico,  that  he  began  to  think  when  it 
would  be  best  for  him  to  start;  for  he  had  a 
feeling  that  the  aunt  might  keep  him  back, 
although  he  knew  that  she  would  not  miss 
him. 

When  he  now  came  home,  and  she  went  for 
him  in  such  a  way,  he  thought:  "Then  I'll  go 
at  once,  as  soon  as  she  is  in  bed."  As  he  thus 
sat  on  the  chair,  he  thought  how  pleasant  it 
would  be,  if  he  should  not  hear  the  aunt  scold 
ing  for  many  a  day,  and  what  bunches  of  red 
flowers  he  would  bring  back  for  Stineli.  And 
he  saw  the  sunny  shores  and  violet  mountains 
before  him,  and  then  he  fell  asleep. 

But  he  was  not  in  a  comfortable  position,  for 
[56] 


A  LONG  JOURNEY 

he  had  kept  the  violin  in  his  hand ;  so  he  woke 
again  after  some  time,  and  it  was  still  dark. 
Now  he  noticed  that  he  was  wearing  his  Sun 
day  clothes,  that  was  well ;  he  had  his  cap  still 
on  his  head  from  yesterday;  so  he  took  the 
violin  under  his  arm,  and  he  went  softly  down 
the  stairs,  shoved  back  the  bolt  and  wandered 
out  into  the  cool  morning  air. 

It  had  already  begun  to  dawn  and  the 
roosters  began  to  crow  in  Sils.  He  marched 
hastily  along  so  as  to  get  away  from  the  houses 
onto  the  highway.  Now  he  was  there  and 
walked  contentedly  along  for  everything  was 
familiar  to  him,  he  had  often  walked  so  far  with 
his  father.  How  far  it  might  be,  however,  un 
til  he  came  on  the  Maloja,  he  did  not  know, 
and  it  seemed  a  great  distance  to  him  still, 
after  he  had  walked  continuously  for  two  good 
hours. 

Now  gradually  bright  daylight  came,  and 
when  he,  after  another  good  hour's  walk,  had 
arrived  on  the  place  before  the  inn  in  Maloja, 
where  he  had  often  looked  down  the  road  with 
his  father,  the  sunny  morning  lay  over  the 
mountains,  and  the  fir-trees  were  all  as  of  gold. 
Rico  sat  down  on  the  edge  of  the  street,  he  was 
already  very  tired  and  now  he  realized  that  he 
had  eaten  nothing  since  his  dinner  on  the  pre- 
[57] 


ceding  day.  But  he  was  not  dismayed,  for 
now  the  road  went  down  hill,  and  afterwards 
the  lake  would  surely  appear. 

As  he  thus  sat,  a  large  mail-coach  came  rat 
tling  up.  He  had  often  seen  it  when  it  drove 
by  Sils,  and  he  had  thought  that  a  coachman 
must  enjoy  the  greatest  happiness  on  earth, 
sitting  always  with  his  whip  on  the  box  and 
driving  fine  horses.  Now  he  saw  one  of  those 
lucky  creatures  near  by,  for  the  mail-coach 
stopped  and  Rico  did  not  turn  his  eyes  from 
the  remarkable  man,  who  came  down  from  his 
high  seat,  and  went  into  the  tavern  and  came 
out  again  with  several  enormous  pieces  of  rye- 
bread,  upon  which  lay  a  huge  slice  of  cheese. 
Now  the  coachman  pulled  a  strong  knife  out  of 
his  pocket  and  cut  his  bread  and  put  a  piece  in 
the  mouth  of  one  horse  and  then  the  other.  His 
turn  came  between,  but  on  his  piece  of  bread 
came  always  a  good  morsel  of  cheese.  As 
they  now  were  eating  all  together  so  content 
edly,  the  coachman  looked  around  and  all  at 
once  he  called  out:  "Hello,  little  musician, 
will  you  breakfast  with  us?  Come  along." 

Only  when  Rico  had  seen  the  bread,  did  he 

realize  how  very  hungry  he  was.     He  therefore 

gladly  accepted  the  invitation  and  went  over 

to  the  coachman.     He  cut  an  astonishingly 

[58] 


A  LONG  JOURNEY 

large  piece  of  cheese  and  laid  it  upon  a  still 
thicker  piece  of  bread,  so  that  Rico  hardly 
knew  how  he  could  master  the  things. 

He  had  to  place  his  violin  on  the  ground. 
The  coachman  watched  complacently  how 
Rico  bit  into  his  breakfast,  and  while  he  con 
tinued  his  business  he  said:  "You  are  a  very 
young  violin  player,  do  you  know  anything?" 

"Yes,  two  songs,  and  then  the  one  from 
father,"  Rico  answered. 

"So,  and  where  do  you  want  to  go — on  your 
two  little  legs?"  the  coachman  continued. 

"To  Peschiera  on  the  Garda  Lake,"  was 
Rico's  serious  answer. 

The  coachman  burst  into  loud  laughter,  so 
that  Rico  looked  quite  astonished  up  at  him. 

"You  are  a  good  walker,  you,"  laughed  the 
coachman  again,  "don't  you  know  how  far  that 
is,  and  that  a  small  musician,  as  you  are,  could 
run  both  his  feet  off  together  with  the  soles, 
before  he  would  have  seen  one  little  drop  of 
water  of  the  Garda  Lake?  Who  sends  you 
down  there?" 

"I  go  myself,"  said  Rico. 

"I  have  never  met  anyone  like  this  mite  be 
fore,"  the  coachman  laughed  good-naturedly. 
"Where  are  you  at  home,  musician?" 

"I  do  not  really  know,  perhaps  on  the 
[59] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

Garda  Lake,"  Rico  answered  quite  seriously. 

"Is  that  an  answer!"  The  driver  looked 
closer  at  the  boy.  Rico  did  not  look  like  a 
runaway  beggar  child.  The  black  curly  head 
over  his  Sunday  suit  looked  quite  fine,  and  the 
small  face  with  the  serious  eyes  bore  a  noble 
imprint,  and  if  one  once  had  seen  it  one  liked 
to  look  at  it  again. 

The  coachman  may  have  felt  that  too,  for  he 
looked  at  Rico  firmly  and  then  again  even 
more  firmly,  then  he  said  kindly:  "You  carry 
your  passport  in  your  face,  my  boy,  and  it  is  a 
good  one,  although  you  do  not  know  where  you 
are  at  home.  What  will  you  give  me  if  I  let 
you  sit  beside  me  on  the  box  and  take  you 
down?" 

Rico  was  so  astonished  as  if  it  could  not  be 
possible  that  he  really  had  heard  these  words. 
To  drive  down  into  the  valley  on  the  high  coach 
he  could  never  have  thought  it  possible.  But 
what  could  he  give  the  man? 

"  I  have  nothing  besides  my  violin,  and  I  can 
not  give  that  to  you,"  Rico  said  sadly  after 
some  thinking. 

"Yes  indeed,  I  should  not  know  what  to  do 
with  that  thing,"  the  coachman  laughed. 
"Come,  now  we  start — and  you  can  give  me  a 
little  music." 

[60] 


A  LONG  JOURNEY 

Rico  did  not  trust  his  ears;  but  really  the 
coachman  lifted  him  over  the  wheels  onto  the 
high  seat  and  climbed  after!  The  travellers 
had  taken  to  the  coach  again,  the  door  was 
closed  and  now  it  went  down  the  street,  which 
Rico  had  so  often  looked  at,  and  had  longed  to 
get  down  there.  And  his  wish  was  fulfilled, 
and  how !  High  up  between  heaven  and  earth 
Rico  drove  along  and  he  could  not  yet  believe 
that  it  was  he. 

The  driver  did  wonder  a  little  to  whom  the 
little  boy  beside  him  could  belong. 

"Tell  me,  you  little  walking  possession, 
where  is  your  father?"  he  asked  after  a  strong 
crack  with  his  whip. 

"He  is  dead,"  answered  Rico. 

"So,  and  where  is  your  mother?" 

"She  is  dead." 

"  So,  then  one  has  perhaps  a  grandfather  and 
a  grandmother,  where  are  they?" 

"They  are  dead." 

"  So,  so,  but  perhaps  a  brother  or  a  sister  you 
surely  must  have,  what  has  become  of  them?" 

"They  are  dead,"  was  Rico's  continuous, 
sad  answer. 

Since  now  the  driver  saw  that  all  were  dead 
he  let  the  relations  alone  and  only  asked: 
"What  was  your  father's  name?" 
[61] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

"Henrico  Trevillo  of  Peschiera  on  Lake 
Garda,"  replied  Rico. 

Now  the  man  proceeded  to  arrange  the 
things  in  his  mind:  this  is  a  misplaced  boy 
from  down  below,  and  it  is  well  that  he  comes 
again  to  his  own  place.  With  this  he  dropped 
the  subject. 

When  now,  after  the  first  steep  descent  of 
the  mountain  road,  the  way  became  a  little 
more  even,  the  driver  said:  "Well,  musician, 
now  play  a  cheerful  song." 

Then  Rico  took  his  violin  and  was  of  such 
good  cheer  high  up  there  on  his  throne,  riding 
along  under  the  blue  sky,  that  he  began  and 
sang  lustily, 

"You  lambkins  come  down 
From  sun-covered  height." 

High  on  the  postchaise  sat  three  students, 
who  were  taking  a  holiday  trip,  and  as  now  the 
song  went  on  and  Rico  sang  with  much  delight 
and  joyousness,  Stineli's  stanzas,  there  sud 
denly  arose  above  on  the  coach  a  loud  Hello 
and  laughter,  and  the  students  called  out: 
"Stop,  musician,  and  begin  again,  we  will  sing 
with  you." 

Then  Rico  began  again  and  now  the  students 
joined  and  sang  with  all  their  might, 
[62] 


A  LONG  JOURNEY 

"And  the  lambkins,  and  the  lambkins — " 

and  between  the  singing  they  laughed  so  loud 
that  Rico's  violin  could  not  be  heard,  and  then 
they  sang  again,  and  one  sang  quite  alone  into 
the  singing  of  the  others: 

"And  were  he  not  fretting, 
His  heart  would  not  ache." 

And  then  the  others  fell  in  again  and  sang  as 
loud  as  they  could 

"And  the  lambkins  and  the  lambkins" 

and  so  it  went  on  for  some  time,  and  when  Rico 
stopped  for  a  moment,  then  they  called  to  him : 
"Play  on,  do  not  stop,"  and  they  threw  small 
silver  coins  to  him,  again  and  again,  so  that  he 
had  a  little  heap  in  his  cap. 

Within  the  coach  the  travellers  opened  all 
the  windows  and  stuck  out  their  heads  to  hear 
the  jolly  song.  Rico  began  to  play  anew  and 
the  students  began  afresh  and  divided  the  song 
into  Solo  and  Chorus.  Then  the  solo  voice 
sang  very  solemnly: 

"And  one  lake,  like  the  other, 
Their  water  display" 

and  then  again: 

"And  were  he  not  fretting, 
His  heart  would  not  ache" 

[63] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

and  then  the  chorus  fell  in  and  sang  with  all 
their  might, 

"And  the  lambkins,  and  the  lambkins" 

and  then  it  seemed  they  laughed  as  if  they 
wanted  to  shorten  their  lives. 

Suddenly  the  coachman  stopped,  it  was 
noon  and  a  halt  had  to  be  made  and  dinner  had 
to  be  taken.  When  he  swung  Rico  down,  he 
carefully  held  his  cap,  for  all  the  money  was  in 
it,  and  Rico  had  enough  to  do  to  take  care  of 
his  violin. 

The  driver  was  quite  happy  when  he  gave 
the  cap  into  Rico's  hand,  and  said:  "So,  that 
is  right  and  now  you,  too,  can  have  dinner." 

The  students  jumped  down,  one  after  the 
other,  and  they  all  wanted  to  see  the  player,  for 
they  had  not  been  able  to  see  him  well  from 
their  seats.  Now  the  wondering  and  the  mer 
riment  began  afresh;  judging  from  the  good 
voice,  they  had  expected  to  see  a  bigger  man, 
and  now  the  fun  was  doubled.  They  took  the 
little  boy  in  their  midst  and  marched  singing 
into  the  inn.  Rico  had  to  take  a  seat  between 
two  of  the  gentlemen,  at  the  beautifully  set 
table,  and  they  said  that  he  was  their  guest, 
and  each  of  the  three  put  a  piece  of  meat 
on  his  plate,  for  none  wanted  to  give  less 
[64] 


A  LONG  JOURNEY 

than  the  other,  and  Rico  had  never  eaten  such 
a  meal. 

"From  whom  do  you  have  the  beautiful 
song,  little  player?"  one  of  the  three  asked. 

"From  Stineli,  she  has  made  it  herself," 
Rico  answered  seriously. 

The  three  looked  at  each  other  and  then 
burst  out  in  ringing  laughter. 

"That  is  fine  of  Stineli,"  one  cried,  "now  we 
will  give  a  Hurrah  for  Stineli." 

They  drank  Stineli's  health,  and  Rico  had  to 
clink  his  glass  with  theirs  for  Stineli,  which  he 
gladly  did. 

Now  it  was  time  to  start,  and  when  they 
stepped  up  to  the  coach  again,  a  stout  man 
came  to  Rico;  he  had  such  a  big  stick  in  his 
hand  that  it  looked  as  if  he  had  torn  up  a 
young  tree.  He  was  dressed  in  a  yellowish- 
grey  suit. 

"Come,  little  one,"  he  said,  "you  have  sung 
so  prettily.  I  have  heard  you  inside  the  coach, 
and  I,  too,  have  to  do  with  sheep,  like  you;  you 
see,  I  am  a  sheep  trader  and  because  you  can 
sing  so  beautifully  of  sheep,  you  must  have 
something  from  me."  With  these  words  he 
put  a  large  silver  coin  in  Rico's  hand,  for  the 
cap  had  been  emptied  into  Rico's  pocket. 

Then  the  man  took  his  seat  inside  the  coach, 
[65] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

and  Rico  was  lifted  up  by  the  coachman  like  a 
feather  and  swung  onto  his  high  seat.  When 
the  coach  did  not  go  so  quickly,  the  students 
asked  for  music,  and  Rico  played  all  the 
melodies  which  he  had  from  his  father,  and  at 
last  he  played: 

"I  sing  to  Thee  with  heart  and  mouth." 

The  students  must  have  fallen  asleep  at  this 
melody,  for  everything  had  become  so  quiet, 
and  now  the  violin  was  silent,  and  the  evening 
breeze  wafted  softly  around  them,  and  silently 
the  little  stars  came  up  in  the  sky,  one  after  the 
other,  until  they  radiated  round  about,  wher 
ever  Rico  was  looking.  And  he  thought  of 
Stineli  and  the  grandmother,  what  they  were 
doing  now,  and  he  remembered  that  about  this 
time  the  prayer-bell  was  ringing,  and  both 
would  pray  the  Lord's  prayer.  He  would  do 
that,  too;  it  was  then  as  if  he  were  with  them, 
and  Rico  folded  his  hands  and  prayed  under 
the  brilliant,  star-studded  heavens,  very  rever 
ently,  his  Lord's  prayer. 


[66] 


CHAPTER  XII 

A  Stranger  Helps  the  Little  Wanderer 

ICO  too  had  fallen  asleep.  He  awoke 
from  being  taken  hold  of  by  the  coach 
man  to  lift  him  down.  Now  all  came 
out  and  down  from  the  coach,  and  the 
three  students  came  to  Rico  and  shook 

his  hand,  and  wished  him  a  happy  journey. 

And  one  called  out:  "Greet  Stineli  from  us 

most  heartily!" 
Then  they  disappeared  in  a  street,  and  Rico 

heard  how  they  once  again  began: 

"And  the  lambkins,  and  the  lambkins.'* 

Now  Rico  stood  there  in  the  dark  night  and 
had  no  idea  where  he  was  nor  what  he  should 
do.  Now  he  remembered  that  he  had  not 
even  thanked  the  driver,  who  had  taken  him 
along  so  far,  and  he  wanted  to  do  so  at  once. 

The  driver  had  disappeared  together  with 
the  horses,  and  it  was  dark  round  about;  only 
at  the  other  side  hung  a  lantern;  Rico  went 
toward  it.  It  hung  on  the  stable  door,  where 
the  horses  were  being  led  in.  Aside  stood  the 
man  with  the  big  stick,  he  seemed  to  wait 
[67] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

for  the  coachman.     Rico  too  stood  there  and 
waited. 

The  sheep  trader  could  not  have  recognized 
him  in  the  darkness;  all  at  once  he  said  in  a 
surprised  tone:  "What,  you  are  still  here, 
little  one?  Where  are  you  going  to  spend  the 
night?" 

"I  do  not  know  where,"  answered  Rico. 

"For  goodness'  sake!  At  eleven  o'clock  in 
the  night  and  such  a  bit  of  a  boy  as  you  are, 
and  in  a  strange  country — •" 

The  sheep  trader  had  to  puff  out  his  words, 
for  in  the  excitement  he  could  not  get  his 
breath  easily;  but  he  did  not  complete  his 
sentence,  for  the  coachman  came  out  of  the 
stables,  and  Rico  went  directly  toward  him  and 
said:  "I  wanted  to  thank  you  for  taking  me 
along." 

"  It  is  well  that  you  came,  I  had  almost  for 
gotten  you  over  the  horses,  and  I  wanted  to 
give  you  in  charge  of  an  acquaintance.  I  was 
about  to  ask  you,  good  friend,"  he  continued, 
turning  to  the  sheep  trader,  "whether  you 
would  not  take  the  little  fellow  along,  since  you 
are  going  down  into  the  Bergamask  region. 
He  is  going  down  to  Lake  Garda,  somewhere, 
he  is  one  of  those  who  are — hither  and  thither — 
you  understand  what  I  mean — " 
[68] 


A  STRANGER  HELPS  THE  WANDERER 

All  kinds  of  stories  of  stolen  and  lost  chil 
dren  came  into  the  sheep  trader's  mind:  he 
looked  compassionately  at  Rico,  by  the  light  of 
the  lantern,  and  said  in  a  low  tone  to  the  coach 
man:  "He  looks  as  though  he  were  not  in  the 
right  casing.  No  doubt  he  belongs  in  a 
gentleman's  cloak.  I'll  take  him  along." 

After  he  had  talked  over  a  sheep-deal  with 
the  driver,  the  two  took  leave  from  each  other 
and  the  trader  beckoned  to  Rico  to  come  with 
him.  After  a  short  walk  the  man  went  into  a 
house  and  directly  into  a  large  room  of  an  inn, 
where  he  sat  down  in  a  corner  with  Rico. 

"  Now  we  will  look  at  your  money,"  he  said, 
"so  that  we  may  know  what  you  can  afford. 
Where  are  you  going  down  below  at  the 
lake?" 

"To  Peschiera  on  the  Garda  Lake,"  was 
Rico's  unchanged  reply.  Now  he  took  all  his 
money  out  of  his  pocket;  it  was  a  nice  little 
heap  of  small  coins,  and  on  the  top  was  the 
large  silver  piece. 

"Have  you  only  the  one  large  piece?"  the 
trader  asked. 

"Yes,  only  the  one,  you  gave  that  to  me." 

The  man  was  so  delighted  that  he  had  been 

the  only  one  who  had  given  a  large  piece  and 

that  the  boy  knew  it,  he  felt  inclined  to  give 

[69] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

him  another  piece.  When  food  was  served  the 
stout  man  beckoned  to  the  boy  to  come  to  the 
table,  saying:  "I  pay  that  and  also  your  bed 
for  the  night;  then  you  will  have  enough  for 
tomorrow." 

Rico  was  so  tired  from  all  the  singing  and 
playing  and  travelling  the  whole  day  long,  that 
he  could  hardly  eat,  and  he  had  scarcely  touched 
his  pillow,  in  the  large  room  where  he  was  to 
spend  the  night  with  his  protector,  when  he  fell 
at  once  into  a  deep  sleep. 

The  next  morning  Rico  was  shaken  very 
early  out  of  his  deep  sleep,  by  a  firm  hand. 
He  jumped  hastily  out  of  bed  for  his  compan 
ion  stood  there  ready  for  the  journey,  with  his 
stick  in  his  hand. 

But  it  was  not  long  before  Rico,  too,  was 
ready,  with  his  violin  in  his  hand.  The  two 
stepped  first  into  the  dining-room  and  Rico's 
companion  called  for  coffee,  and  he  encouraged 
the  boy  to  drink  of  it  for  now  a  long  journey 
was  coming  and  one  that  would  give  an 
appetite. 

When  that  piece  of  business  was  satisfacto 
rily  accomplished,  the  two  travellers  started 
and  after  a  walk  they  turned  round  a  corner 
and — how  Rico  had  to  open  his  eyes — all  at 
once  he  saw  a  large,  shining  lake  before  them. 
[70] 


A  STRANGER  HELPS  THE  WANDERER 

"Now  comes  the  Garda  Lake!"  Rico  said 
excitedly. 

"Not  by  far,  little  fellow;  now  we  are  on  the 
Lake  of  Como,"  the  trader  explained.  Then 
they  went  in  a  ship  and  sailed  for  many  hours. 
And  Rico  looked  now  along  the  sunny  shore, 
and  then  into  the  blue  waves,  and  all  spoke  of 
home  to  him.  All  at  once  he  placed  his  silver 
piece  on  the  table. 

"What?  what?  have  you  already  too  much 
money?"  his  protector  asked  him,  who,  lean 
ing  on  his  stick  watched  with  surprise  Rico's 
doings. 

"I  have  to  pay  today,  you  said  so  last  night," 
said  Rico. 

:<  You  do  pay  attention,  if  one  tells  you  some 
thing.  That  is  good,  but  one  does  not  put  the 
money  so  on  the  table,  just  give  it  to  me." 

With  these  words  he  rose  and  went  to  look 
round  to  see  to  whom  he  should  pay.  But 
when  he  pulled  out  his  well-filled  leather  bag, 
which  was  filled  with  such  silver  pieces,  for  he 
was  on  a  trading  journey,  then  he  could  not 
find  it  in  his  heart  to  give  the  little  fellow's 
single  large  piece,  and  he  brought  it  back  again 
together  with  his  ticket  and  said:  "There, 
you  can  use  your  money  better  tomorrow;  to 
day  you  are  still  with  me,  and  who  knows  how 
[71] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

things  will  go  with  you  tomorrow.  If  now  you 
arrive  down  at  Peschiera  at  the  Garda  Lake, 
and  I  am  no  longer  with  you,  shall  you  remem 
ber  the  house  where  you  have  to  go?" 

"No,  I  know  no  house  there,"  answered 
Rico.  The  man  had  to  overcome  a  secret  sur 
prise,  for  the  little  fellow's  story  seemed  very 
mysterious  to  him.  But  he  did  not  let  Rico 
see  it,  and  did  not  ask  any  more;  he  thought 
that  he  should  not  get  to  understand  the  boy's 
doings;  the  coachman  would  explain  it  to  him 
when  they  met  again;  he  would,  no  doubt, 
know  everything  about  the  boy.  He  felt  very 
sorry  for  Rico  who  now,  very  soon,  had  to  lose 
him  too. 

When  the  boat  stopped,  the  man  took  Rico's 
hand  and  said:  "So  that  is  better,  I  shall  not 
lose  you  thus,  and  you  can  keep  up  better,  for 
now  it  means  to  walk  quickly,  for  they  will  not 
wait." 

Rico  had  to  try  hard  to  keep  up  with  his  pro 
tector.  He  neither  looked  to  the  right  nor  the 
left,  and  all  at  once  he  stood  before  a  long  row 
of  rolling  wagons,  the  like  of  which  he  had 
never  seen.  He  followed  his  companion  up  a 
few  steps  into  one  of  the  wagons,  and  Rico  was 
now  for  the  first  time  in  his  life,  in  a  railroad 
carriage.  After  they  had  ridden  for  about  an 
[72] 


A  STRANGER  HELPS  THE  WANDERER 

hour,  the  sheep-trader  rose  and  said:  "Now 
my  turn  comes,  we  are  now  in  Bergamo,  and 
you  remain  seated,  until  someone  comes  to 
fetch  you,  for  I  have  arranged  everything, — 
then  you  get  out  and  are  there." 

"Am  I  then  in  Peschiera  on  the  Garda 
Lake?"  Rico  asked.  His  protector  con 
firmed  that.  Rico  now  thanked  the  kind 
man  very  prettily,  for  he  had  indeed  com 
prehended,  how  many  kindnesses  the  man 
had  shown  him,  and  so  they  parted,  and  each 
felt  sorry  that  he  had  to  leave  the  other. 

Rico  now  sat  very  quiet  in  his  corner,  and 
had  time  to  be  astounded,  for  no  one  troubled 
himself  about  him.  He  might  have  sat  so  per 
haps  three  hours  without  moving,  when  the 
train  again  stopped  as  it  had  done  several 
times  before. 

A  conductor  came  in,  took  hold  of  Rico's 
arm  and  pulled  him  hastily  out  of  the  carriage 
and  down  the  steps.  Then  he  pointed  up  the 
hill  and  said:  "Peschiera,"  and  was  in  a  mo 
ment  back  in  the  carriage  and  had  disappeared. 
The  train  rushed  on. 


[73] 


PART  II 

AT  THE  BEAUTIFUL  GARDA  LAKE 


CHAPTER  XIII 

At  the  Distant,  Beautiful  Lake 

ICO  stepped  a  few  feet  away  from  the 
building  where  the  train  had  stopped, 
and  looked  about:  this  white  house, 
the  bare,  open  space  before  it,  the 
straight  road,  all  appeared  so  strange 
to  him;  he  had  never  seen  that  before,  and 
he  thought:  "I  am  not  on  the  right  spot." 
Sadly  he  went  on  down  the  path,  between  the 
trees.  The  road  now  turned,  and  Rico  stood 
as  in  a  dream  and  did  not  stir.  Before  him  in 
bright  sunshine  lay  the  light  blue  lake  with 
the  warm,  still  shores  and  beyond  the  moun 
tains  came  toward  each  other;  in  the  midst  lay 
the  sunny  bay  and  the  friendly  houses  on  it 
shone  across.  Rico  knew  that  he  had  seen 
that,  there  he  had  stood,  just  there,  he  knew 
these  trees;  but  where  was  the  small,  white 
house?  It  must  be  there,  quite  near;  but  it 
was  not  there. 

But  below  there  was  the  old  street;  oh  yes, 
he  knew  it  so  well,  and  there  the  large  red 
flowers  shone  forth  from  between  the  green 
[77] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

leaves;  there  must  be  a  narrow,  stone  bridge, 
there  over  the  outlet  of  the  lake,  he  had  walked 
over  it  so  often;  but  he  could  not  see  it. 

Suddenly  Rico  began  to  run  up  to  the  street, 
driven  by  ardent  longing,  and  across  it,  there 
was  the  narrow  bridge — he  knew  all — there  he 
had  gone  across  and  somebody  was  holding  his 
hand — his  mother — all  at  once  the  face  of  his 
mother  came  before  him,  as  he  had  not  seen  it 
before  for  many  years ;  there  she  had  stood  and 
had  looked  at  him  with  loving  eyes;  and  some 
thing  came  over  Rico  as  never  before  in  his  life. 

He  threw  himself  on  the  ground  beside  the 
narrow  bridge  and  wept  and  sobbed  aloud: 
"Mother,  my  mother,  where  are  you?  Where 
is  my  home,  mother?  "  He  lay  there  for  a  long 
time  and  had  to  weep  out  his  great  sorrow,  and 
he  felt  as  if  his  heart  must  burst,  and  as  if  it 
were  an  outbreak  of  all  sorrow  which  had  made 
him  dumb  and  stiff  when  it  had  come  to  him. 

When  Rico  got  up  from  the  ground,  the  sun 
was  far  down  and  a  golden  evening  glow  cov 
ered  the  lake.  Now  the  mountains  became 
violet  and  a  rosy  hue  lay  over  the  shore.  Rico 
had  thus  remembered  his  lake  and  had  seen  it 
thus  in  his  dreams,  and  everything  was  much 
more  beautiful  now  he  saw  it  again  with  his 
very  eyes.  Rico  kept  on  thinking,  as  he  was 
[78] 


AT  THE  DISTANT  BEAUTIFUL  LAKE 

sitting  there  and  looked  and  could  not  see 
enough:  "If  I  could  only  show  that  all  to 
Stineli!" 

Now  the  sun  had  gone  down,  and  the  light 
round  about  turned  into  darkness.  Rico  arose 
and  went  toward  the  street,  where  he  had  seen 
the  red  flowers.  A  small  path  led  up  to  them 
from  the  street.  There  they  were,  one  bush 
beside  the  other,  but  it  was  like  a  garden ;  to  be 
sure  there  was  only  an  open  fence  round  about 
the  place,  and  in  the  garden  there  were  flowers 
and  trees  and  grapes,  in  profusion. 

Above  at  the  end  was  a  handsome  house, 
with  an  open  door,  and  in  the  garden  a  young 
fellow  went  hither  and  thither  and  cut  off 
bunches  of  large  golden-yellow  grapes  here  and 
there  and  whistled  contentedly  at  his  work. 

Rico  looked  at  the  flowers  and  thought:  "If 
Stineli  could  see  these!"  And  he  stood  for  a 
long  time  without  moving  before  the  hedge. 

Now  the  young  gardener  saw  him  and  called 
out  to  him:  "Come  in,  fiddler,  and  play  a 
pretty  song,  if  you  know  one." 

The  boy  called  that  in  Italian,  and  Rico  felt 
so  strange;  he  understood  what  he  heard,  but 
he  could  not  speak  it.  He  stepped  into  the 
garden  and  the  young  fellow  wanted  to  talk 
with  him;  but  when  he  discovered  that  Rico 
[79] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

could  not  answer,  he  pointed  to  the  open  door 
and  made  clear  to  Rico  that  he  should  play 
there. 

Rico  approached  the  door,  it  led  directly  in 
to  a  room.  There  stood  a  little  bed,  and  beside 
it  sat  a  lady  who  was  making  something  with 
red  laces.  Rico  stopped  before  the  threshold 
and  began  to  play  his  song  and  sing: 

:<You  lambkins  come  down." 

When  he  was  through,  there  arose  from  the 
bed  the  pale  head  of  a  boy,  who  called  out : 

"Play  again!" 

Rico  played  another  melody. 

"Play  once  more!"  it  sounded  again. 

So  it  went  on  five  or  six  times,  and  again  and 
again  it  came  from  the  bed:  "Play  again!" 

Now  Rico  had  played  all  he  knew;  he  took 
his  violin  and  was  going  away.  Then  the  sick 
boy  began  to  scream:  "Stay  here!  Play 
again,  play  once  more!"  And  the  lady  had 
risen  and  came  to  Rico.  She  gave  him  some 
thing  in  his  hand  and  Rico  at  first  did  not  know 
what  she  wanted;  but  it  came  again  into  his 
mind,  that  Stineli  had  said,  if  he  were  playing 
before  a  door,  the  people  would  give  him  some 
thing.  Then  the  woman  asked  in  a  friendly 
tone,  from  where  he  came  and  where  he  was  go- 
[80] 


AT  THE  DISTANT  BEAUTIFUL  LAKE 

ing?  Rico  could  not  answer.  She  asked  if  he 
were  there  with  his  parents?  Then  he  nodded 
"no";  whether  he  was  alone?  He  nodded 
* '  yes ' ' .  Where  he  was  now  going,  so  late  in  the 
evening?  Rico  shook  his  head  uncertainly. 
Then  the  woman  felt  compassion  for  the  small 
stranger,  and  she  called  the  young  fellow  from 
the  garden,  and  told  him  to  go  with  the  strange 
boy  to  the  Inn  "At  the  Golden  Sun";  perhaps 
the  landlord  could  understand  the  boy's  lan 
guage,  for  he  had  been  travelling  for  a  long 
time  about  the  world.  He  was  to  tell  the  land 
lord  that  he  should  keep  the  boy  over  night, 
she  would  pay  for  it,  and  he  was  to  send  him 
tomorrow  on  the  right  way  which  he  had  to 
take,  he  was  so  very  young — "only  a  few 
years  older  than  my  boy,"  she  added  full  of 
pity — and  he  also  should  give  him  something 
to  eat. 

The  little  one  shouted  again  from  his  bed: 
"He  must  play  once  more,"  and  did  not  stop 
until  his  mother  said:  "He  will  come  again  to 
morrow,  but  nowjtie  must  sleep  and  so  must 
you." 

The  young  fellow  now  went  ahead  of  Rico, 
and  the  latter  knew  now  where  he  was  going, 
he  had  understood  the  lady's  words. 

It  was  a  good  ten  minutes'  walk  to  the  little 
[81] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

town.  In  the  middle  of  a  narrow  street  the 
young  man  went  into  a  house  and  directly  into 
a  large  bar-room  which  was  thick  with  tobacco- 
smoke,  and  a  number  of  men  sat  around  the 
tables. 

The  young  fellow  gave  his  message  and  the 
landlord  said,  "It  is  well,"  and  the  innkeeper's 
wife  came  at  once  and  both  looked  at  Rico 
from  top  to  toe.  But  when  the  guests  at  the 
next  table  saw  the  violin  several  of  them  called 
out:  "We  are  going  to  have  music,"  and  one 
called:  "Little  one,  play  something  merry!" 
And  they  all  shouted  so  in  confusion,  that  the 
landlord  could  hardly  ask  what  language  Rico 
spoke,  and  from  where  he  came.  Rico  now 
answered  in  his  own  tongue,  that  he  had  come 
from  over  the  Maloja,  and  that  he  understood 
all  that  they  were  saying,  but  could  not  speak. 
The  landlord  understood  him  and  said  that  he 
too  had  been  there  above,  and  they  would  talk 
together  later,  now  he  should  play  a  little,  for 
the  guests  kept  on  calling  for  music. 

Then  Rico  obediently  began  to  play  as 
usual  with  his  song,  and  sang  the  words. 
But  not  one  of  the  guests  understood  a  word, 
and  the  melody  seemed,  no  doubt,  a  little 
simple  to  them.  Some  began  to  talk  and  to 
make  a  noise;  the  others  called  out,  they 
[82] 


AT  THE  DISTANT  BEAUTIFUL  LAKE 

wanted  to  hear  something  different,  a  dance  or 
something  pretty. 

But  Rico  sang  his  song  through  to  the  end, 
when  he  once  had  begun  it.  As  he  had  finished 
it,  he  thought  of  what  he  should  play  next.  He 
did  not  know  how  to  play  a  dance,  and  grand 
mother's  song  went  still  slower,  and  they 
could  again  not  understand  the  words;  then 
something  occurred  to  him  and  he  began: 

"Una  sera 
In  Peschiera — " 

The  first  tones  of  the  melody  had  hardly 
been  played,  when  there  was  perfect  silence, 
and  all  at  once  voices  rose  from  this  and  that 
table  and  at  last  from  all  tables,  and  there  rose 
a  chorus  more  beautiful  than  Rico  had  ever 
heard,  so  that  he  became  quite  enthusiastic  and 
played  ever  more  fierily ,  and  the  men  sang  more 
and  more  eagerly,  when  one  stanza  was  at  an 
end,  then  Rico  began  at  once  a  new  one  with 
firm  strokes,  for  he  knew,  from  his  father,  where 
the  stanza  ended.  And  when  now  the  end 
came,  there  arose  such  a  noise  as  Rico  had 
never  heard.  Everyone  in  the  room  called 
and  shouted  in  confusion,  and  struck  their  fists 
on  the  table,  from  pure  joy,  and  then  they  all 
came  with  their  glasses  toward  Rico  and  he 
[83] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

was  to  drink  from  each,  and  two  shook  his 
hands  and  one  his  shoulders,  and  one  and  all 
shouted  at  him  and  made  such  an  uproar  from 
pure  joy  that  the  poor  little  boy  became  fright 
ened  and  grew  paler  and  paler.  He  had  played 
their  own  Peschiera-song,  which  belonged  to 
them  alone  and  which  no  stranger  could  learn, 
and  he,  this  little  boy,  had  played  it  firmly  and 
correctly,  as  if  he  belonged  to  Peschiera;  these 
intense-feeling  Peschierans  could  not  empha 
size  enough  and  could  not  rejoice  enough  over 
this  wonder  of  a  violin-player  and  all  wanted  to 
show  him  how  highly  they  esteemed  him. 

But  now,  the  innkeeper's  wife  interfered. 
She  had  a  plateful  of  rice  with  a  large  piece  of 
chicken  on  it  in  her  hand;  she  beckoned  to  Rico 
and  told  the  men  to  leave  him  alone  now,  that 
he  must  eat  and  they  could  see  that  he  was  as 
white  as  a  sheet  from  excitement.  Then  she 
put  his  plate  on  a  small  table  in  the  corner  and 
sat  down  with  him  and  encouraged  him  to  eat, 
for  that  would  be  good  for  such  a  thin  little 
fellow  as  he  was. 

Rico  found  his  supper  very  good,  for  since  his 
coffee  in  the  morning  he  had  not  had  a  bite, 
and  he  had  been  through  too  much  to  go  with 
out  eating.  As  soon  as  his  plate  was  empty, 
his  eyes  closed  from  fatigue.  The  landlord  too 
[84] 


AT  THE  DISTANT  BEAUTIFUL  LAKE 

had  come  to  the  table  and  praised  Rico  for  his 
playing,  and  asked  him,  to  whom  he  belonged 
and  where  he  was  going.  Rico  said,  while  he 
tried  hard  to  keep  his  eyes  open,  that  he  be 
longed  to  no  one,  and  he  wanted  to  go  nowhere. 

Then  the  landlord  said  in  a  friendly  way,  he 
should  go  to  sleep  without  fear,  tomorrow  he 
could  go  to  see  Mrs.  Menotti  again,  who  had 
sent  him  there;  that  she  was  a  very  kind  lady 
and  could  perhaps  employ  him  as  a  young  ser 
vant,  if  he  did  not  know  what  to  do. 

But  his  wife  kept  on  pulling  his  sleeve,  as  if 
he  should  not  say  what  he  was  saying;  but  he 
finished,  for  he  did  not  understand  what  his 
wife  wanted. 

Now  the  men  at  the  tables  began  again,  they 
wanted  to  hear  their  song  once  more.  But  the 
landlady  called  out:  "No,  no,  you  can  hear  it 
again  next  Sunday.  The  boy  is  tired  to 
death."  With  these  words  she  took  Rico  by 
the  hand  and  brought  him  upstairs  to  a  large 
room.  Horse-harness  hung  on  the  wall  and  in 
one  corner  grain  lay  in  heaps,  and  in  the  other 
stood  his  bed.  In  a  few  minutes  Rico  lay  in  it 
and  was  fast  asleep. 

Later,  when  all  was  still  in  the  house,  the 
landlord  sat  at  the  small  table  where  Rico  had 
sat,  and  his  wife  stood  before  him,  for  she  was 
[85] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

still  clearing  away,  and  she  said  eagerly,  "You 
must  not  send  the  boy  to  Mrs.  Menotti;  that  is 
a  boy  I  can  use  for  all  kinds  of  work,  and  have 
you  not  noticed  how  he  can  play?  They  all 
became  wild  over  it.  You  take  my  word  for  it 
that  he  will  be  a  player,  better  than  our  three, 
and  he  will  learn  to  play  dances,  I  tell  you, 
then  you  can  have  him  for  nothing  on  the  dance- 
days.  You  must  not  let  the  boy  out  of  your 
reach;  he  looks  nice,  and  I  like  him." 

"Just  as  you  like,"  said  the  landlord,  and  he 
could  see  that  his  wife  had  thought  out  some 
thing  to  their  advantage. 


[86] 


CHAPTER  XIV 

Rico  Makes  New  Friends 

HE  next  morning  the  landlady  stood  in 
her  doorway  and  made  investigation 
about  the  weather  and  what  else  that 
might  have  happened  over-night.  The 
gardener  of  Mrs.  Menotti  was  coming 
along;  he  was  at  the  same  time  master  and 
servant  on  the  fruitful  estate,  for  he  liked  his 
position  as  he  understood  garden  and  field 
work,  and  ruled  and  looked  after  everything. 
When  he  stood  before  the  landlady  he  said: 
"Mrs.  Menotti  wants  me  to  tell  you  that,  if  the 
young  musician  of  last  night  has  not  gone 
away,  he  shall  come  across  to  Mrs.  Menotti, 
for  her  little  boy  wants  to  hear  him  play  again." 
"Oh,  yes,  if  Mrs.  Menotti  is  in  no  great 
hurry,"  the  landlady  said,  while  she  put  both 
hands  on  her  hips,  as  a  sign  that  she  would  not 
hurry.  "For  the  present,  the  little  musician 
still  lies  upstairs  in  his  good  bed  and  is  still 
bravely  sleeping  and  I  like  him  to  sleep.  You 
may  tell  Mrs.  Menotti,  that  I  will  send  him 
now  and  then ;  that  he  is  not  going  any  farther, 
[87] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

but  that  I  have  taken  him  in  and  have  adopted 
him;  for  he  is  a  forsaken  orphan,  who  did  not 
know  where  to  go.  And  now  he  is  well  taken 
care  of,"  she  added  with  emphasis. 

The  young  fellow  went  with  his  message. 

The  landlady  let  Rico  finish  his  sleep,  for  she 
was  a  good-natured  woman,  only  she  thought 
first  of  her  own  profit,  and  then  of  that  of 
others.  When  Rico  at  last  awoke  he  had  slept 
away  all  fatigue  and  came  down  the  stairs  quite 
refreshed.  The  innkeeper's  wife  beckoned 
him  into  the  kitchen  and  placed  a  large  basin  of 
coffee  on  the  table  before  him,  and  laid  a  piece 
of  corn-cake  beside  it.  Then  she  said: 

"You  can  have  it  every  day,  if  you  like,  and 
at  noon  and  evenings,  even  better,  for  then  food 
is  prepared  for  the  guests  and  there  is  always 
some  left  over.  You  can  do  errands  for  me 
and  play  the  violin  when  it  is  needed,  and  you 
can  be  at  home  with  us  and  have  your  own  bed 
room  and  you  need  not  wander  any  more 
through  the  world.  And  now  you  can  say 
whether  you  want  to  stay." 

Rico  answered  quite  contentedly:  "Yes,  I 
will  stay,"  for  he  could  say  that  much  in  the 
landlady's  language. 

She  went  at  once  over  the  whole  house  with 
him  and  through  the  barns  and  the  stables  and 
[88] 


RICO  MAKES  NEW  FRIENDS 

into  the  vegetable  garden  and  the  barnyard 
where  the  chicken  coops  were,  and  she  ex 
plained  to  him  the  surroundings  and  directions, 
how  to  go  to  the  shoemaker  and  the  store 
and  to  other  important  people.  Rico  paid 
close  attention,  and  to  try  him,  the  landlady 
sent  Rico  at  once  to  three  or  four  places  to 
fetch  all  kinds  of  things  such  as  oil,  soap  and 
thread  and  a  mended  boot,  for  she  had  noticed 
that  Rico  could  speak  a  few  words  quite 
plainly. 

Rico  brought  everything  quite  right,  which 
pleased  the  landlady  very  much,  and  toward 
evening  she  said :  "  Now  you  may  go  with  your 
violin  to  Mrs.  Menotti  and  stay  there  until  it 
gets  dark." 

Rico  was  glad  of  that,  for  he  would  pass  the 
lake  and  afterwards  be  near  the  beautiful 
flowers. 

Arrived  at  the  lake,  he  ran  to  the  small 
bridge  and  sat  down,  for  there  lay  again  all  the 
beauty  before  him,  the  water  and  mountains 
in  the  golden  vapor,  and  he  could  hardly  get 
away. 

But  he  did,  because  he  knew  that  he  now 
must  do  what  the  landlady  told  him  to  do,  be 
cause  he  could  make  his  home  with  her. 
When  he  entered  the  garden,  the  little  boy 
[89] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

heard  him,  for  the  door  was  always  open,  and 
he  cried  out:  "Come  and  play  again!" 

Mrs.  Menotti  came  out  and  shook  hands 
with  Rico  and  drew  him  into  the  room.  It 
was  a  large  room  and  one  could  see,  through  the 
wide  door,  directly  into  the  beautiful  garden. 
The  bed  of  the  sick  boy  stood  just  opposite  the 
door,  besides  that  there  were  only  chairs  and 
tables  and  beautifully  carved  boxes  in  the 
room,  but  no  other  bed,  for  in  the  evening  the 
little  bed  was  moved  into  the  next  room,  where 
the  mother's  bed  stood;  and  in  the  morning, 
the  little  bed,  with  the  owner  of  it,  was  brought 
out  again  into  the  beautiful,  cheerful  room, 
where  the  sun  threw  its  beaming  rays  on  the 
floor  every  morning,  and  rejoiced  the  heart  of 
the  little  boy.  Beside  the  bed  stood  a  pair  of 
crutches,  for  from  time  to  time  the  mother 
took  the  little  boy  out  of  his  bed  and  guided 
him  in  walking  on  his  crutches  a  few  times  up 
and  down  the  room,  for  he  could  neither  walk 
nor  stand  on  his  little  legs,  as  he  was  com 
pletely  paralyzed  and  had  never  been  able  to 
use  them. 

When  Rico  came  to  the  door,  the  little  boy 

raised  himself  by  means  of  a  cord  which  was 

hanging  from  the  ceiling  down  to  his  bed,  for  he 

could  not  sit  up  without  help.     Rico  came  to 

[90] 


RICO  MAKES  NEW  FRIENDS 

the  bedside  and  looked  in  silence  at  the  little 
fellow.  He  had  very  thin  arms  and  small,  thin 
fingers,  and  a  narrow,  thin  face  such  as  Rico 
had  never  seen  in  a  boy,  and  out  of  the  face 
two  large  eyes  looked  piercingly  at  Rico,  for 
the  little  boy,  who  saw  something  new  and  who 
thirsted  for  new  things,  and  very  seldom  saw 
them,  looked  at  everything  that  came  in  his 
lonesome  path  very  keenly. 

"What  is  your  name?"  the  little  boy  now 
asked. 

"Rico,"  was  the  answer. 

"And  I  am  Silvio.  How  old  are  you?"  was 
his  next  question. 

"I  shall  soon  be  eleven  years  old." 

"And  I,  too,  shall  soon  be  eleven,"  said  the 
little  boy. 

"But,  Silvio,  what  are  you  talking  about," 
the  mother  interrupted,  "you  are  not  quite 
four,  time  does  not  go  quite  so  quickly." 

"Play  again!"  said  Silvio. 

The  mother  sat  down  in  her  seat  beside  the 
little  bed  and  Rico  went  and  stood  a  little 
further  away  and  began  to  play.  Silvio  could 
not  get  enough  of  it,  and  as  soon  as  one  piece 
was  played  then  his  "play  again"  was  heard. 

Rico  had  played  all  his  pieces  about  six 
times,  when  the  mother  went  out  and  came 
[91] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

back  with  a  plate  full  of  the  golden  yellow 
grapes  and  said  that  Rico  must  rest  now  and 
sit  on  her  chair  and  eat  some  grapes  with 
Silvio. 

Then  she  went  into  the  garden  and  looked 
after  things  and  was  glad,  for  she  hardly  ever 
could  get  away  from  Silvio's  bed,  for  he  could 
not  bear  it  and  he  cried  quite  pitifully;  so  it 
was  a  real  pleasure  for  the  lady,  that  she  could 
get  away. 

Meanwhile  the  two  boys  understood  each 
other  splendidly,  for  Rico  could  answer  Silvio's 
questions  very  well  and  when  he  did  not  know 
the  right  word  at  once,  then  he  made  himself 
understood  with  signs,  and  that  kind  of  con 
versation  Silvio  found  most  entertaining. 
The  mother  could  look  at  her  flower-beds  and 
grape  vines,  and  the  beautiful  fig  trees  in  the 
fields  round  about,  without  having  Silvio  call 
her  a  single  time. 

But  when  now  she  returned  and  it  was  grow 
ing  dark,  Rico  rose  to  leave.  Little  Silvio 
made  a  great  noise  and  held  Rico  with  both 
hands  by  his  short  coat  and  would  not  let  him 
go  if  he  would  not  promise  that  he  would  come 
tomorrow  and  every  following  day.  But  Mrs. 
Menotti  was  a  cautious  woman ;  she  had  indeed 
understood  the  landlady's  message  and  she 
[92] 


RICO  MAKES  NEW  FRIENDS 

now  quieted  Silvio  and  promised  him  that  she 
would  go  very  soon  to  the  innkeeper's  wife  and 
talk  things  over  with  her,  for  Rico  could  not 
promise  anything. 

At  last  the  sick  child  let  go  of  the  jacket  and 
gave  his  hand  to  Rico,  although  the  latter  did 
not  like  to  leave  the  pleasant  room,  where  he  felt 
happy  and  where  it  was  so  still  and  everything 
looked  so  pretty,  and  where  Silvio  and  his 
mother  were  so  friendly  to  him. 

A  few  days  passed,  when  late  one  afternoon, 
Mrs.  Menotti,  much  dressed,  appeared  in  the 
"Golden  Sun,"  and  the  landlady  ran  to  meet 
her  and  conducted  her  to  the  hall  upstairs. 
Mrs.  Menotti  asked  very  politely,  whether  it 
would  not  suit  the  landlady  of  the  "Golden 
Sun"  to  let  Mrs.  Menotti  have  Rico  a  few 
evenings  in  the  week;  he  entertained  her  little 
boy  so  well  and  she  would  gladly  do  her  share 
in  whatever  the  landlady  wished. 

The  landlady  was  flattered  that  the  highly- 
respected  lady  should  come  to  ask  her  for  a 
favor,  and  it  was  settled  at  once  that  Rico 
should  come  every  free  evening,  and  Mrs. 
Menotti,  in  return,  undertook  to  supply  Rico 
with  clothes,  so  that  the  landlady  was  delighted 
with  the  arrangement;  for  now  she  had  not  to 
pay  a  cent  for  Rico,  and  everything  he  received 
[93] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

was  pure  gain  for  her.  So  the  two  women 
parted,  satisfied  with  their  arrangement. 

Thus  the  days  went  by  for  Rico.  In  a  short 
time  he  spoke  Italian  as  fluently  as  if  he  had 
always  known  it.  And  once  he  did  know  it. 
So  he  remembered  one  thing  after  another,  and 
he  had  a  good  ear  and  he  spoke  it  like  an  Ital 
ian,  so  that  all  people  were  surprised  at  it. 
The  landlady  could  use  him  better  than  she 
had  expected,  for  he  attended  to  her  business  as 
properly  and  neatly,  as  she  herself  could  do  it, 
for  she  did  not  have  the  patience,  and  when 
something  had  to  be  prepared  for  a  feast,  per 
haps  a  wedding,  then  Rico  had  to  do  it,  for  he 
knew  what  was  beautiful  and  could  bring  it 
about. 

When  he  ran  his  errands,  he  was  back  before 
the  landlady  thought  that  he  had  arrived  at  the 
place  where  he  was  sent,  for  he  never  wasted 
time  in  conversation.  When  anyone  wanted  to 
question  him  about  himself,  he  turned  around 
and  walked  away.  This  pleased  the  landlady 
particularly,  when  she  noticed  it,  and  gave  her 
a  great  respect  for  the  boy,  so  that  she  herself 
did  not  question  him,  and  so  it  came  that  no 
one  really  knew,  how  he  had  come  to  Peschiera; 
but  a  story  had  spread,  which  everyone  ac 
cepted,  namely,  that  he,  an  orphan,  had  been 
[94] 


RICO  MAKES  NEW  FRIENDS 

badly  treated  high  up  in  the  mountains,  that 
he  had  run  away,  and  had  met  with  many 
dangers  on  the  long  journey  and  had  at  last 
arrived  where  the  people  were  not  so  uncouth 
as  they  were  in  the  mountains,  and  that  he 
loved  to  be  here.  And  when  the  landlady 
told  the  story  she  did  not  forget  to  add  that 
he  deserved  having  found  a  home  under  her 
roof. 

When  the  first  dance-Sunday  came,  there 
assembled  at  the  "Golden  Sun"  a  most  sur 
prisingly  large  crowd,  so  that  they  did  not 
know  where  to  put  them  all,  for  everyone 
wanted  to  see  the  small  musician  and  hear 
him,  and  those  who  had  heard  him  the  first 
evening  came  first  of  all,  and  wanted  to  begin 
with  their  song. 

The  landlady  ran  hither  and  thither  in  the 
ardor  of  work  and  shone,  as  if  she  herself  had 
turned  into  the  "Golden  Sun",  and  when  she 
met  her  husband,  she  said  each  time  victori 
ously:  "Did  I  not  tell  you  so?" 

Rico  listened  first  to  a  dance  played  by  the 
three  musicians  who  had  come,  and  the  melody 
fell  so  in  his  ear  and  his  fingers,  that  he  could 
at  once  play  with  them,  and  now  he  knew  the 
dance  forever.  So  it  came  about  that,  late  in 
the  evening,  when  they  stopped  dancing,  he 
[95] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

could  play  all  the  dances  with  the  others,  for 
each  dance  had  been  played  a  number  of  times. 

At  the  end,  the  Peschiera  song  had  to  be 
sung,  accompanied  by  Rico,  and  if  there  had 
been  a  great  noise  the  whole  evening,  now  the 
hearts  of  the  Peschierans  became  more  and 
more  inflamed  and  there  was  such  a  noise  that 
Rico  thought,  "Now  they  will  fly  at  each 
other  and  kill  each  other."  But  all  the  noise 
was  an  expression  of  friendship  and  he  himself 
came  in  for  such  ear-splitting  applause,  that  he 
kept  on  thinking,  "If  it  were  only  over,"  for 
there  was  nothing  more  distasteful  to  Rico 
than  noise. 

In  the  evening  the  landlady  said  to  her  hus 
band:  "Have  you  seen  it?  Next  time  we 
shall  need  only  two  musicians." 

And  the  husband  was  very  contented  and 
said:  "We  must  give  something  to  the  boy." 

Two  days  later  there  was  a  dance  above  in 
Desenzano,  and  Rico  was  sent  there  with  the 
musicians.  It  was  the  same  noise  and  com 
motion,  and  although  the  Peschiera-song  was 
not  requested,  there  was  the  same  loud  noise 
about  other  things,  and  Rico  thought  from 
beginning  to  end:  "If  it  were  only  over!" 

He  brought  home  a  whole  pocketful  of 
money;  this  he  let  roll  all  uncounted  over  the 
[96] 


RICO  MAKES  NEW  FRIENDS 

table,  for  it  belonged  to  the  landlady,  and  she 
praised  him  and  placed  a  large  piece  of  apple- 
cake  before  him.  The  following  Sunday  there 
was  again  a  dance  in  Riva  on  the  other  side  of 
the  lake.  This  time  Rico  was  glad,  for  Riva 
was  the  spot  on  the  other  side  of  the  lake  which 
looked  from  Peschiera  like  a  sunny  beach,  with 
friendly  white  houses  round  about  the  shore, 
which  were  reflected  in  the  lake. 

The  musicians  went  in  the  afternoon  in  an 
open  boat  over  the  golden  lake  with  the  blue 
sky  above  them  and  Rico  thought,  "If  I  could 
sail  thus  with  Stineli!  How  astonished  she 
would  be  about  the  lake  in  which  she  would 
not  believe!" 

But  at  Riva  the  same  racket  went  on  and 
Rico  wished  himself  away  again,  for  it  was  so 
much  more  beautiful  to  look  at  Riva  from  the 
other  side  in  the  quiet  twilight,  than  to  sit  here 
in  the  midst  of  the  terrible  noise. 

But  when  there  was  no  dance-day,  Rico 
could  go  every  evening  to  little  Silvio  and  stay 
for  a  long  time,  for  the  landlady  wanted  to 
make  herself  obliging  to  Mrs.  Menotti.  Rico 
loved  to  go  there,  that  was  his  joy.  When  he 
passed  the  lake,  he  went  to  the  narrow  bridge 
and  sat  down  on  the  ground  for  a  while ;  for  this 
was  the  only  spot  where  he  had  the  feeling  that 
[97] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

he  might  be  at  home.  There  he  could  see 
everything  most  vividly,  as  it  used  to  be  when 
he  had  a  home.  For  what  he  saw  before  him, 
he  had  seen  in  former  days,  and  here  he  could 
see  his  mother  most  plainly.  There  she  had 
stood  at  the  lake  and  had  washed  something, 
and  now  and  then  she  had  looked  at  him  and  said 
some  loving  words,  and  he  sat  in  the  same  spot 
where  he  now  sat.  All  that  he  remembered 
perfectly  well.  He  always  left  there  reluc 
tantly,  but  he  knew  that  Silvio  was  listening  for 
his  step.  When  he  then  came  through  the  gar 
den  he  felt  happy  again  and  he  liked  to  enter 
the  quiet,  clean  house.  Mrs.  Menotti  was 
friendlier  to  him  than  anyone  else,  he  felt  that ; 
she  had  great  compassion  for  the  forsaken 
orphan,  as  she  called  him,  for  she  had  heard 
the  story  of  his  running  away.  But  never  had 
she  asked  Rico  anything  about  his  life  in  the 
mountains,  for  she  thought  that  it  would  only 
waken  sad  memories  in  him.  She  also  felt 
that  Rico  had  not  the  care  which  a  little  boy  of 
his  age  and  his  quiet  habits,  ought  to  have,  but 
she  could  do  nothing,  but  have  him  with  her  as 
often  as  she  could  get  him.  She  often  put  her 
hand  on  his  head  and  said,  full  of  pity : 

"You  poor  orphan!" 

Rico  became,  with  every  day,  more  necessary 
[98] 


to  Silvio.  In  the  morning  he  began  to  lament 
and  to  call  for  Rico,  and  when  he  was  in  pain, 
then  he  screamed  more,  and  could  not  be 
quieted,  when  Rico  could  not  come.  For 
since  Rico  could  talk  so  fluently,  Silvio  had 
found  a  new,  ever-flowing  source  of  amuse 
ment  which  was  the  story -telling. 

Rico  had  begun  to  talk  of  Stineli  to  Silvio, 
and  since  he  felt  happy  in  talking  of  her,  he 
grew  so  lively  and  entertaining,  that  he  seemed 
no  longer  the  same  boy.  He  told  hundreds  of 
stories:  How  Stineli  once  caught  Sami  by  one 
leg,  just  when  he  was  falling  into  the  water- 
hole,  and  how  she  had  to  pull  and  pull  and 
shout  the  while  with  all  her  might,  while  Sami 
shouted  below  until  the  father  came  along 
quite  slowly,  for  he  assumed  that  it  was  chil 
dren's  nature  to  scream  without  any  need. 
And  how  she  cut  dolls  for  Peterli  and  made 
furniture  for  Urschli  from  all  kinds  of  material, 
wood  and  moss  and  grasses.  And  how  all  the 
children  called  for  Stineli  when  they  were  sick, 
because  they  forgot  what  hurt  them  when  she 
entertained  them.  And  then  Rico  told  how 
he  went  out  with  Stineli,  and  how  beautiful  she 
was,  his  eyes  shone  so  that  his  whole  body 
became  excited,  and  little  Silvio  also  became 
excited  and  wanted  to  hear  more.  And 
[99] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

when  Rico  stopped,  then  he  called  out,  "Tell 
again  about  Stineli!"  But  one  evening  Silvio 
became  more  excited  when  Rico  wanted  to 
go  away,  and  said  that  he  could  not  corne 
tomorrow,  nor  the  day  after,  which  was 
Sunday. 

Silvio  screamed  for  his  mother,  as  if  the  house 
were  on  fire  and  he  lay  in  the  midst  of  the 
flames,  and  when  she  rushed  in  from  the  gar 
den,  he  called  out:  "Rico  must  never  again  go 
to  the  inn,  he  must  stay  here.  He  must  always 
stay  here.  You  must  stay  here,  Rico,  you 
must,  you  must!" 

Then  Rico  said:  "I  should  like  to,  but  I 
have  to  go." 

Mrs.  Menotti  was  in  great  perplexity;  she 
knew  indeed,  what  Rico  was  to  the  inn  people, 
and  that  she  could  not  get  him  on  any  condi 
tion.  So  she  pacified  Silvio  as  well  as  she 
could  and  drew  Rico  compassionately  to  her 
heart  saying:  "Oh,  you  poor  orphan!" 

Then  Silvio  shouted  in  his  anger:  "What  is 
an  orphan?  I,  too,  want  to  be  an  orphan!" 

But  now  the  mother  became  excited  and  said : 
"Oh,  Silvio,  do  you  want  to  be  sinful?  See, 
dear,  an  orphan  is  a  poor  child  who  has  no 
father  and  no  mother  and  is  nowhere  at  home 
in  the  wide  world." 

[100] 


RICO  MAKES  NEW  FRIENDS 

Rico  had  riveted  his  dark  eyes  on  Mrs. 
Menotti,  they  looked  blacker  and  blacker;  but 
she  did  not  notice  it.  She  had  forgotten  Rico, 
when  she,  in  her  excitement,  explained  to 
Silvio.  Rico  crept  softly  out  and  away. 
Mrs.  Menotti  thought  that  he  had  gone  so 
softly,  so  that  he  would  not  excite  the  little 
boy,  and  she  was  satisfied.  She  sat  down  by 
the  little  bed  and  said:  "Listen,  Silvio,  I  will 
explain  it  to  you,  and  then  you  must  not  make 
this  noise  again.  See,  my  boy,  one  cannot 
take  boys  away,  for  if  I  wanted  to  take  Rico 
from  the  innkeepers,  then  they  could  come 
and  take  my  Silvio.  Then  you  could  never 
again  see  the  garden  and  the  flowers  and  must 
sleep  alone  in  the  room  where  the  harness 
hangs,  and  where  Rico  does  not  like  to  go;  he 
has  often  told  you  that.  What  would  you 
then  do?" 

"Come  home  again,"  was  Silvio's  decisive 
reply,  but  nevertheless  he  kept  quiet  and  lay 
down. 

Rico  went  through  the  garden,  and  over  the 
street  down  to  the  lake.  There  he  sat  down 
in  his  little  spot  and  laid  his  head  in  his  hands 
and  said  with  a  comfortless  voice:  "I  know 
now,  mother;  I  am  nowhere  at  home  in  this 
whole  world." 

[101] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

And  thus  he  sat  in  his  great  sadness  till  late 
in  the  night,  and  would  have  preferred  to  stay 
there,  but  he  had  finally  to  return  to  his  bed 
room. 


[102] 


CHAPTER  XV 

Silvio's  Mother  Makes  a  Promise 

UT  in  little  Silvio  the  excitement  worked 
on  and  when  he  now  knew  that  Rico 
would  not  come  for  two  days  in  suc 
cession,  he  began  to  call  out  early  in 
the  morning:  "Now  Rico  is  not  com 
ing  !  Now  Rico  is  not  coming ! "  and  continued 
calling  with  short  pauses  between,  until  even 
ing.  And  the  next  morning  early,  he  began 
again.  But  this  activity  had  used  him  up  so 
that  on  the  third  day  he  was  like  a  little  heap 
of  straw,  which  a  spark  could  bring  into  bright 
flames. 

Rico  appeared  toward  evening  still  disgusted 
from  the  noises  of  the  dances,  where  he  had 
played.  Since  he  now  knew  that  he  was  no 
where  at  home,  the  thought  of  Stineli  had  re 
ceived  new  power  and  he  said  to  himself: 
"There  is  only  Stineli  in  the  whole  world  to 
whom  I  belong,  and  who  troubles  herself  about 
me."  And  there  came  over  him  a  great  long 
ing  for  Stineli.  He  hardly  sat  by  Silvio's  bed, 
when  he  said:  "Do  you  see,  Silvio,  only  with 
[103] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

Stineli  one  feels  happy  and  nowhere  else." 
These  words  were  hardly  uttered  when  the 
little  fellow  pulled  himself  up  on  his  cord  and 
shouted  with  all  his  might:  "Mother,  I  want 
Stineli,  Stineli  must  come.  One  feels  happy 
only  with  Stineli  and  nowhere  else  in  the  whole 
world!'* 

The  mother  came  in,  and  since  she  had  often 
listened  with  much  satisfaction  to  Rico's  story 
of  Stineli  and  her  small  sisters  and  brothers,  she 
knew  whom  this  outburst  concerned,  and  said : 
"  Yes,  indeed,  I  should  be  glad,  for  I  could  use 
a  little  Stineli  for  you  and  myself,  if  I  only  had 
one!" 

But  Silvio  did  not  accept  such  uncertain 
utterances,  he  was  all  fire  and  flame  for  his 
wish. 

"Now  you  can  have  one  at  once,"  he  cried, 
"Rico  knows  where  she  is,  he  must  fetch  her;  I 
will  have  Stineli,  every  day  and  always.  Rico 
must  get  her  tomorrow,  he  knows  where  she 
is." 

When  the  mother  found  that  Silvio  had 
thought  everything  out  and  wanted  to  take  the 
thing  quite  seriously,  she  began  to  turn  his 
mind  to  something  else,  for  she  had  heard  sev 
eral  times  of  the  many  unheard-of  dangers 
Rico  had  to  overcome  on  his  journey,  and  how 
[104] 


SILVIO'S  MOTHER  MAKES  A  PROMISE 

it  was  looked  upon  as  a  great  wonder  that  he 
had  reached  Peschiera  alone,  and  what  a  ter 
rible  wild  people  were  living  up  there  in  the 
mountains.  So  she  knew  that  no  human  being 
could  fetch  down  such  a  maiden  and  least  of 
all,  a  tender  boy  like  Rico;  he  might  perish 
miserably  if  he  were  to  try  such  a  thing,  and 
then  she  would  have  the  responsibility  of  it, 
and  that  she  could  not  and  would  not  have,  for 
she  had  already  enough. 

She  presented  to  Silvio  the  impossibility  of 
the  whole  thing  and  talked  to  him  of  all  kinds 
of  terrible  occurrences  and  vicious  people  who 
might  pursue  Rico  and  kill  him.  But  it  was  all 
of  no  use.  Little  Silvio  had  fixed  the  idea 
firmly  in  his  head  as  never  anything  before  in 
his  life;  for  whatever  the  mother  could  say  and 
however  eagerly  she  talked  from  fear,  as  soon 
as  she  stopped,  Silvio  said :  "Rico  must  get  her, 
he  knows  where  she  is." 

Then  the  mother  said:  "And  if  Rico  knows, 
do  you  think  that  he  would  run  into  danger  and 
temptation,  when  he  can  have  things  as  he  has, 
and  need  not  go  to  wicked  people?" 

Then  Silvio  looked  at  Rico  and  said:  "Will 
you  go  and  fetch  Stineli,  Rico,  or  will  you  not  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  will,"  Rico  answered  firmly. 

"Oh,  dear  heavens,  now  Rico  too  becomes 
[105] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

senseless ! ' '  cried  the  mother  in  terror.  ' '  Then 
I  know  no  help.  Take  the  violin,  Rico,  and 
play  and  sing  something,  I  must  go  into  the 
garden."  With  these  words  Mrs.  Menotti  ran 
hastily  out  under  the  fig  trees,  for  she  thought 
that  Silvio  would  then  forget  his  idea  quickly, 
when  he  could  not  tease  something  from  her. 

But  the  two  good  friends  within  did  neither 
play  nor  sing;  but  talked  each  other  into  a  per 
fect  fever  with  all  kinds  of  projects,  how  Sti- 
neli  could  be  fetched  and  how  things  would 
turn  out  afterwards,  when  she  was  there. 
Rico  forgot  entirely  to  go  home,  although  it  had 
become  quite  dark,  for  Mrs.  Menotti  purposely 
did  not  come  into  the  house,  she  was  hoping 
that  Silvio  would  fall  asleep.  At  last  she 
came  in  and  Rico  went  at  once,  but  she  had  a 
hard  battle  with  Silvio.  He  refused  absolutely 
to  close  his  eyes  until  his  mother  would  promise 
that  Rico  must  fetch  Stineli,  and  that  she 
could  not  do,  and  so  Silvio  came  to  no  rest  until 
the  mother  said:  "Be  contented,  everything 
will  be  arranged  over  night."  For  she  thought 
that  he  would  forget  his  wish  over  night,  as  he 
usually  did  and  something  new  would  come  into 
his  mind. 

Then  Silvio  grew  still  and  fell  asleep.  But 
the  mother  had  reckoned  wrong.  She  was  not 
[106] 


SILVIO'S  MOTHER  MAKES  A  PROMISE 

quite  awake,  the  next  morning,  when  Silvio 
called  out  of  his  bed :  "Is  everything  arranged, 
mother?" 

Since  she  could  not  assure  him  that  it  was, 
such  a  storm  started  as  she  had  never  experi 
enced  before  with  the  little  boy,  and  it  went  on 
until  late  in  the  evening,  and  the  morning  after 
Silvio  began  again  where  he  had  left  off  the 
night  before. 

Silvio  had  never  yet  shown  such  a  persist 
ency  in  the  same  wish.  When  he  screamed  and 
lamented  she  could  bear  it,  but  when  the  hours 
of  his  pain  came,  then  the  poor  little  chap 
whimpered  and  moaned  pitifully:  "Only  with 
Stineli  one  feels  well,  and  nowhere  else!" 

This  pierced  the  mother's  heart  and  it  seemed 
to  her  like  an  accusation,  just  as  if  she  would 
do  nothing  that  could  help  him  to  feel  well ;  but 
how  could  she  think  of  such  a  thing,  when  she 
herself  had  heard  Rico  answer  Silvio's  question, 
"Do  you  really  know  the  way  to  Stineli?" 
"No,  I  do  not  know  the  way,  but  I  shall  find 
it." 

She  hoped  from  day  to  day  that  through  some 
happy  event  a  new  demand  would  come  into 
Silvio's  head,  for  it  always  had  been  so,  she 
could  depend  usually  on  that:  if  he  had  de 
manded  something  when  he  felt  well,  then  he 
[107] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

surely  would  not  wish  it  as  soon  as  his  pains 
came.  But  this  time  it  was  different,  and 
there  was  a  good  cause  for  it.  Rico's  stories 
and  expressions  about  Stineli  had  created,  in 
the  susceptible  mind  of  the  little  boy,  the  belief 
that  nothing  would  hurt  him  any  more,  as  soon 
as  Stineli  should  be  with  him.  Therefore 
Silvio  acted  more  and  more  pitifully  from  day 
to  day  and  his  mother  did  not  know  where  she 
could  find  counsel  and  help. 


[108] 


CHAPTER  XVI 

The  Minister  Finds  a  Way 

N  this  state  of  unrest,  it  was  for  Mrs. 
Menotti  a  real  comfort,  when  she,  after 
a  long  time,  saw  the  well-meaning  old 
pastor  in  his  long  black  coat,  coming 
into  the  garden,  who  now  and  then 
came  to  visit  the  little  sick  boy.  She  jumped 
up  from  her  chair  and  exclaimed  joyfully: 
"Look,  Silvio,  there  comes  the  good  pastor!" 
and  she  went  to  meet  him.  But  Silvio,  in  his 
anger  with  everything  cried  out  as  loud  as 
he  could,  after  his  mother:  "I  would  rather 
Stineli  would  come!" 

But  then  he  hastily  crawled  beneath  his 
cover,  so  that  the  reverend  gentleman  should 
not  know  from  where  the  voice  came.  The 
mother  was  much  frightened  and  begged  the 
pastor,  on  stepping  into  the  house,  not  to  take 
the  reception  amiss,  it  was  really  not  intended 
seriously.  Silvio  did  not  stir,  he  only  said 
quite  softly  beneath  his  cover,  "Yes,  indeed,  I 
mean  it." 

The  pastor  must  have  guessed  from  where 
[109] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

the  voice  came;  he  stepped  at  once  up  to  the 
bed,  and  although  not  a  hair  could  be  seen  of 
Silvio,  he  said:  "Good  for  a  greeting,  my  son, 
how  goes  it  with  your  health,  and  why  do  you 
hide  in  your  subterranean  hole  like  a  small 
badger?  Come  out  and  explain  to  me,  what 
you  know  about  Stineli?" 

Now  Silvio  crawled  out,  for  he  had  respect 
for  the  reverend  gentleman,  since  he  was  now 
so  near  to  him.  He  quickly  held  out  his  thin 
hand  to  him  for  greeting  and  said,  "Rico's 
Stineli." 

Now  the  mother  had  to  explain,  for  the  pas 
tor  shook  his  head,  surprised,  while  he  sat 
down  at  Silvio's  bed.  She  told  him  the  whole 
affair  and  about  Stineli,  and  how  the  small  Sil 
vio  had  got  it  in  his  head  that  he  never  would 
be  contented  again  if  Stineli  did  not  come  to 
him,  and  how  Rico  too  had  become  unreason 
able  about  it  and  thought  that  he  could  fetch 
the  girl  although  he  did  not  know  the  way,  and 
she  lived  far  away  in  the  mountains  where  no 
one  could  get,  and  one  did  not  know  what  ter 
rible  people  lived  up  there,  for  one  could  fancy 
what  kinds  of  things  must  happen  there,  if  a 
tender  boy  like  Rico  had  rather  face  the  great 
est  dangers  than  to  stay  among  such  people. 
If  everything  were  different,  Mrs.  Menotti 
[110] 


THE  MINISTER  FINDS  A  WAY 

added,  then  no  money  would  be  too  much  to 
let  a  girl  like  Stineli  come,  to  satisfy  Silvio's 
longings  and  to  have  someone  for  him,  for  what 
she  had  to  bear  often  seemed  too  much  for  her, 
and  she  thought  that  she  could  not  stand  it 
much  longer. 

And  Rico,  who  otherwise  talked  so  sensibly, 
thought  no  one  could  help  her  so  well  as  this 
Stineli.  He  must  know  her  well,  and  if  the 
girl  was  as  he  described  her,  then  it  might  be  a 
salvation  for  a  girl,  if  she  should  come  away 
from  there  above;  but  she  knew  of  no  one  who 
could  do  her  such  a  service. 

The  parson  had  listened  very  seriously  and 
had  said  never  a  word,  until  Mrs.  Menotti  had 
finished.  He  could  not  very  well  have  put  in  a 
word,  for  she  had  not  opened  her  heart  for  a 
long  time,  and  it  had  been  so  full,  and  Mrs. 
Menotti,  from  the  pressure  of  words,  had  almost 
lost  her  breath. 

When  all  was  quiet,  the  old  gentleman  first 
added  another  snuff  to  one  before;  then  he  said 
very  slowly:  "Hm,  hm,  Mrs.  Menotti,  I 
almost  think  that  you  have  an  opinion  of  the 
people  among  the  mountains,  which  is  almost 
too  terrifying;  there  are  also  Christians,  and 
since  one  has  invented  all  kinds  of  means  to 
travel,  it  will  be  possible  for  one  to  get  up  there 
[111] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

without  danger.  One  can  find  that  out;  it  has 
to  be  planned." 

Here  the  gentleman  had  to  fortify  himself 
with  another  snuff,  then  he  added :  "There  are 
all  kinds  of  traders,  who  come  from  above  to 
Bergamo;  sheep-traders  and  horse-traders, 
who  must  know  the  way.  One  can  make  in 
quiries,  and  then  one  can  decide;  means  will  be 
found.  If  you  care  much  for  it,  Mrs.  Menotti, 
then  I  will  look  around;  I  go  once  or  twice  every 
year  to  Bergamo,  so  I  could  manage  the  thing 
a  little." 

Mrs.  Menotti  was  so  grateful,  that  she  did 
not  know  how  to  express  it  to  the  pastor.  All 
at  once  the  sad  thoughts  which  had  oppressed 
her  for  so  many  days  and  nights,  and  in  which 
she  had  become  so  entangled  that  she  could  not 
see  a  way  out  of  it,  had  all  been  taken  from  her. 
The  old  gentleman  had  taken  the  whole  burden 
on  himself,  and  she  could,  from  now  on,  direct 
Silvio  to  him. 

Silvio,  during  the  whole  conversation  had 
almost  pierced  the  pastor  with  his  gray  eyes. 
When  the  latter  now  rose,  and  offered  his  hand 
to  the  child,  Silvio  put  his  so  strongly  into  the 
gentleman's  as  if  he  would  say  with  this :  "This 
time  I  mean  it!"  The  pastor  promised  to 
report,  as  soon  as  he  had  made  his  inquiries 
[112] 


THE  MINISTER  FINDS  A  WAY 

and  knew  whether  the  thing  could  be  carried 
out,  or  whether  Silvio  had  to  give  up  his  desire. 

The  weeks  passed  one  after  the  other  but 
Silvio  behaved  himself  well.  He  had  a  fixed 
hope  before  him,  and  moreover  Rico  had  be 
come  all  at  once  more  entertaining  and  lively 
than  ever  before.  It  had  hit  him  like  a  kindling 
gleam  of  joy,  when  he  heard  the  decision  of  the 
reverend  gentleman;  and  since  then,  new  life 
had  sprouted  in  him.  He  told  Silvio  more 
than  ever,  and  when  he  took  his  violin,  he 
played  such  heart-refreshing  tunes  and  melo 
dies,  that  Mrs.  Menotti  did  not  wish  to  leave 
the  room,  and  she  could  not  stop  wondering 
where  Rico  got  all  this  music. 

Rico  had  only  real  joy  in  playing  in  this 
home ;  it  sounded  so  beautiful  in  this  large,  high 
room,  and  it  was  so  still  and  airy  and  there 
was  no  tobacco  smoke  and  no  human  tumult, 
and  he  need  not  play  just  the  dances,  he  could 
play  what  gave  him  joy.  Rico  loved  this 
house  better  every  day  and  often  when  he 
entered  it  he  thought:  "Someone  who  comes 
home  feels,  no  doubt,  as  I  do  when  I  come  into 
this  room."  But  yet  he  was  not  at  home  here. 
He  only  could  come  for  a  few  hours,  and  then  he 
had  to  leave  again. 

Something  had  come  up  in  Rico  which  set 
[113] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

the  innkeeper's  wife  often  to  wondering. 
When  she  placed  the  dirty,  broken  garbage- 
basin  before  him  and  said:  "Here,  Rico,  take 
that  to  the  chickens ! " — he  went  a  little  to  one 
side,  placed  his  hands  on  his  back  as  a  sign 
that  he  would  not  touch  the  basin  and  said 
quietly:  "I  should  prefer  that  someone  else 
would  do  that."  And  when  she  brought  out 
the  old  shoes  and  wanted  to  put  them  into 
Rico's  hand,  to  take  them  to  the  shoemaker, 
Rico  did  the  same  thing  and  said:  "I  should 
prefer  someone  else  should  go  there." 

But  the  landlady  was  a  wise  woman  and  had 
her  eyes  in  her  head  to  see  what  was  going  on, 
and  it  had  not  escaped  her,  how  Rico  had 
changed,  and  how  he  looked.  Mrs.  Menotti  had 
always  dressed  him  well  since  she  had  under 
taken  to  do  so;  but  since  everything  looked  well 
on  Rico  and  he  looked  always  more  and  more 
like  a  gentleman's  son,  Mrs.  Menotti  found 
pleasure  in  him  and  dressed  him  in  good  mate 
rial,  and  Rico  took  great  care  with  his  clothes 
for  he  liked  everything  that  was  pretty  and 
fine,  and  he  despised  dirt  and  disorder  as  he  did 
the  noise.  The  landlady  saw  all  this,  and 
added  to  that,  she  knew  well  that  Rico,  just  as 
he  had  done  the  first  time,  when  he  returned 
from  the  dances  in  the  neighborhood,  emptied 
[114] 


THE  MINISTER  FINDS  A  WAY 

his  pocket  and  let  the  money  roll  on  the  table 
without  showing  that  he  even  wished  for  any 
of  it. 

And  he  brought  always  more,  for  he  was  not 
only  a  dance-fiddler  like  the  others,  but  the 
people  wanted  always  to  hear  his  songs  after 
the  dancing,  and  all  kinds  of  melodies  which  he 
knew.  Therefore  the  landlady  was  anxious  to 
keep  Rico  in  good  humor,  and  she  did  not 
trouble  him  any  more  with  the  hens  and  the  old 
shoes. 

Three  years  had  passed  since  Rico  had  arrived 
at  Peschiera.  He  was  now  fifteen  years  old, 
a  tall  boy,  and  whoever  looked  at  him  was 
delighted  with  him. 

The  autumnal  golden  sun  was  shining  again 
over  the  Garda  Lake  and  the  blue  heavens  lay 
on  the  peaceful  flood.  In  the  garden,  the 
grapes  hung  like  gold  from  their  branches,  and 
the  red  oleander  flowers  shone  in  the  bright 
sunshine.  In  Silvio's  room  it  was  quite  still, 
for  the  mother  had  gone  into  the  garden  to 
fetch  grapes  and  figs  for  the  evening.  Silvio 
was  listening  for  Rico's  step,  for  it  was  the  time 
when  he  usually  came.  Now  the  gate  in  the 
fence  opened ;  Silvio  rose  on  his  cord  like  a  shot. 
A  long  black  coat  came  wandering  up  the  path. 
It  was  the  pastor.  Silvio  did  not  hide  this 
[115] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

time;  he  stretched  out  his  hand  as  far  as  he 
could,  toward  the  pastor,  long  before  the  latter 
had  reached  the  house.  This  reception  pleased 
the  old  man.  He  entered  the  room  at  once 
and  came  to  Silvio's  bed,  although  he  saw  the 
mother  behind  in  the  garden,  and  he  said:  "So, 
it  is  right,  my  son,  and  how  is  your  health?" 

"  Good,"  answered  Silvio  quickly.  He  looked 
with  intense  eagerness  at  the  old  gentleman 
and  then  asked  in  a  low  voice:  "When  can 
Rico  go?" 

The  old  pastor  sat  down  by  the  bed  and  said 
with  a  solemn  voice:  "Tomorrow  at  five,  Rico 
will  start  on  his  journey,  my  little  son." 

Mrs.  Menotti  had  just  entered,  and  now  there 
began  a  questioning  and  surprise  on  her  part, 
so  that  the  pastor  had  trouble  in  quieting  her, 
in  order  that  he  might  explain  his  report  with 
out  being  interrupted.  He  succeeded  at  last, 
and  Silvio  held  his  eyes  fixed  on  him  like  a  little 
sparrow-hawk,  when  he  told  his  story. 

The  pastor  was  just  coming  from  Bergamo, 
where  he  had  spent  two  days.  There  he  had, 
with  the  help  of  his  friends,  found  a  horse- 
trader,  who  had  come  every  autumn  to  Ber 
gamo  for  the  last  thirty  years,  and  knew  every 
road  and  region  from  there  to  far  over  the 
mountains,  where  Rico  had  to  go.  He  also 
[116] 


THE  MINISTER  FINDS  A  WAY 

knew  how  one  could  get  into  the  mountains 
without  getting  out  of  the  train  and  to  sleep  on 
the  way.  He  himself  was  making  the  same 
tour  and  would  take  Rico  along,  if  he  could 
arrive  in  Bergamo  tomorrow  morning  with  the 
first  train.  The  man  knew  also  every  driver 
and  conductor  and  would  surrender  and  recom 
mend  Rico  and  his  companion  to  these  people, 
so  that  they  would  travel  safely.  So  the  pastor 
thought  that  Rico  could  go  in  peace  and  he  gave 
his  blessing  for  the  journey. 

But  when  he  stood  already  at  the  garden 
gate,  Mrs.  Menotti,  who  had  accompanied 
him,  turned  back  once  more  and  asked,  full  of 
anxiety:  "Oh,  reverend  friend,  are  you  sure 
that  there  is  no  danger  on  this  journey ;  or  that 
Rico  could  be  lost,  and  then  would  have  to 
wander  about  in  the  wild  mountains?" 

The  pastor  calmed  her  again,  and  she  now 
went  back  and  considered  all  that  had  to  be 
done  for  Rico.  He  was  coming  into  the  gar 
den  and  the  joyous  shouts  which  Silvio  sent 
out  to  him  were  so  surprising  that  Rico  was 
beside  Silvio's  bed  in  three  jumps,  to  see  what 
had  happened. 

"What  is  it?  What  is  it?"  Rico  kept  on 
asking,  and  Silvio  in  fear  that  his  mother  would 
get  ahead  of  him,  kept  on  shouting:  "I  will  tell 
[117] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

it!  I  will  tell  it!"  But  the  mother  let  the 
boys  alone  with  their  joy  and  went  after  her 
business  for  that  was  now  the  most  important. 
She  brought  out  a  travelling  bag  and  stuffed  in 
the  bottom  an  enormous  piece  of  smoked  beef 
and  half  a  loaf  of  bread,  and  a  large  package  of 
dried  plums  and  figs,  a  bottle  of  wine  well 
rolled  in  a  cloth,  and  then  came  the  clothes : 
two  shirts,  two  pairs  of  stockings  and  a  pair  of 
shoes  and  handkerchiefs,  and  in  doing  this  Mrs. 
Menotti  felt  as  if  Rico  was  going  to  a  distant 
part  of  the  globe,  and  she  now  only  felt  how 
dear  Rico  was  to  her,  so  that  she  could  hardly 
live  without  him. 

Between  the  packing  she  had  again  and 
again  to  sit  down  and  think:  "If  only  nothing 
happens  to  him!"  She  came  down  with  the 
bag,  and  she  told  Rico  to  go  at  once  to  the 
Inn  and  to  explain  everything  fully  to  the 
landlady  and  ask  her  to  let  him  go,  and  he 
could  take  the  bag  along  and  leave  it  at  the 
station. 

Rico  was  greatly  surprised  at  his  baggage; 
but  he  did  obediently  as  he  was  told,  and  then 
went  to  the  landlady.  He  told  her  that  he 
must  go  up  in  the  mountains  to  fetch  Stineli, 
and  it  came  from  the  pastor,  that  he  had  to 
start  the  very  next  morning  at  five  o'clock. 
[118] 


THE  MINISTER  FINDS  A  WAY 

That  the  pastor  had  to  do  with  this  journey 
awoke  some  respect  in  the  landlady.  But  she 
wanted  to  know  who  Stineli  was,  and  what  she 
intended  to  do;  she  thought  at  once  that  this 
might  be  something  for  her.  But  she  only 
learned,  that  Stineli  was  a  girl  whose  name  was 
Stineli  and  that  she  was  coming  to  Mrs. 
Menotti.  Then  she  dropped  the  subject  for 
she  would  not  interfere  with  Mrs.  Menotti's 
doings ;  she  was  contented  enough  that  she  had 
let  her  have  Rico  so  long.  She  also  assumed 
that  Stineli  was  Rico's  sister,  only  he  did  not 
say  so,  as  he  never  had  said  anything  about  his 
family. 

And  so  she  told  all  the  guests  who  came  to 
the  Inn  that  evening,  that  Rico  was  going  to 
morrow  into  the  mountains  to  fetch  down  his 
sister,  for  he  had  learned  how  good  people  were 
here  in  Peschiera. 

But  she  wanted  to  show  how  good  she  was  to 
Rico.  She  fetched  a  large  basket  down  from 
the  attic  and  filled  it  with  sausages  and  cheese, 
eggs  and  slices  of  bread  with  butter  a  finger 
thick  between  them. 

:<You  must  not  be  hungry  on  your  journey, 

and  the  rest  you  can  use  there  among  the 

mountains,  you  will  not  find  too  much  there, 

and  you  need  something  for  your  return  jour- 

[119] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

ney.  For  you  are  surely  coming  back,  Rico, 
are  you?" 

"Indeed,  I  am,"  said  Rico,  "I  shall  be  back 
in  a  week." 

He  carried  his  violin  to  Mrs.  Menotti,  for  he 
would  not  entrust  it  to  anyone  else,  and  now 
he  took  leave  for  eight  days,  for  he  could  be 
back  in  that  time,  if  everything  went  well. 


[120] 


CHAPTER  XVII 

Back  Over  the  Mountains 

N  the  morning,  long  before  five  o'clock, 
Rico  was  at  the  station,  ready  for  his 
journey,  and  could  hardly  wait  until 
the  train  took  him  on.  Now  he  was 
in  the  car  as  he  was  three  years  ago, 
but  no  longer  pressed  timidly  in  the  corner  of 
the  seat;  now  he  needed  a  whole  seat,  for  beside 
him  lay  his  bag  and  basket.  In  Bergamo  he 
met,  as  arranged,  the  horse-trader,  and  now 
they  travelled  on  together  undisturbed  in  the 
same  car,  then  over  the  lake.  Then  they 
got  out  and  walked  toward  an  inn^  where  the 
horses  stood  ready  harnessed  to  the  large  post- 
chaise. 

Rico  remembered  distinctly  how  he  had 
stood  here  in  the  night,  quite  alone,  after  the 
students  had  gone,  and  on  the  other  side  he 
saw  the  stable  door,  where  he  had  seen  the 
lantern  hanging  and  then  had  again  found  the 
sheep-trader.  It  was  already  evening  and  they 
soon  mounted  the  postchaise,  and  drove  to 
ward  the  mountains.  This  time  Rico  sat  with 
[121] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

his  companion  inside  the  coach,  and  he  had 
hardly  sat  down  in  the  corner  when  his  eyes 
closed,  for  from  excitement  he  had  not  slept  an 
hour  the  night  before.  Now  he  made  up  for  it. 
Without  wakening  once,  Rico  slept  on  until  the 
sun  stood  high  in  the  heavens  and  the  coach 
went  very  slowly,  and  when  he  put  his  head 
out  of  the  window,  Rico  saw,  to  his  indescrib 
able  surprise,  that  the  coach  was  going  up  the 
zigzag  road  which  led  up  the  Maloja,  which  he 
knew  well. 

He  could  not  see  much  from  the  window,  only 
now  and  then  a  turn  of  the  highway;  and  he 
would  like  to  have  seen  all  round  about.  Now 
the  coach  stopped,  they  had  reached  the  top. 
There  was  the  inn,  there  he  had  sat  down  near 
the  road  and  had  talked  with  the  coach-driver. 
All  travellers  got  down  for  a  moment,  while  the 
horses  were  fed.  Rico  too  got  out  of  the  coach ; 
he  went  to  the  driver  and  asked  him  quite 
humbly:  "May  I  not  sit  on  the  box  with  you, 
as  far  as  Sils?" 

"Get  up,"  said  the  coachman. 

All  travellers  took  their  seats  again,  and  now 
it  went  downward  in  a  merry  trot  along  the 
smooth  road.  Now  came  the  lake.  There 
was  the  wood-covered  peninsula,  and  on  the 
other  side  was  Sils-Maria.  The  little  church 

1 1»  3 


BACK  OVER  THE  MOUNTAINS 

shone  in  the  morning  sun,  and  there  toward  the 
mountain  he  saw  the  two  small  houses. 

His  heart  began  to  beat  very  strongly. 
Where  could  Stineli  be  ?  Only  a  few  more  steps 
and  the  postchaise  stopped.  They  were  in 
Sils! 

Stineli  had  experienced  many  a  hard  day 
since  Rico's  disappearance.  The  children 
grew  and  there  was  always  more  to  be  done, 
and  most  of  the  work  fell  on  Stineli,  for  she  was 
the  oldest  of  the  children.  So  everyone  said: 
"Stineli  can  do  that,  she  is  old  enough,"  and 
then  at  once  after:  "Stineli  can  do  that,  for 
she  is  still  young."  She  could  not  share  joy 
with  anyone,  since  Rico  had  gone,  if  she  had 
had  a  moment's  time  for  joy. 

A  year  ago,  the  good  grandmother  had  died, 
and  from  then  on,  there  was  not  a  free  moment 
any  more  for  Stineli;  for  there  was  so  much 
work  from  morning  until  evening  that  it  was 
never  finished,  but  was  always  just  in  the  midst 
of  it. 

But  Stineli  had  not  lost  her  good  courage, 
although  she  had  mourned  very  much  for  the 
grandmother,  and  she  thought  every  day  sev 
eral  times,  without  grandmother  and  Rico  the 
world  was  no  longer  as  beautiful  as  it  had  been. 
On  a  sunny  Saturday  morning,  she  was  coming 
[123] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

with  a  large  bundle  of  straw  on  her  head,  from 
behind  the  barn;  she  wanted  to  make  straw 
whisks  to  sweep  with  in  the  evening.  The 
sun  was  shining  brightly  on  the  dry  road  to  Sils 
and  she  stopped  and  looked  across.  A  young 
fellow  was  coming  along  the  road.  She  did  not 
know  him;  that  was  no  Silser,  she  could  see 
that  at  once.  And  as  he  came  nearer,  he 
stopped,  and  looked  at  Stineli  and  she  looked 
at  him  and  was  much  surprised,  but  all  at  once 
Stineli  threw  down  her  bundle  of  straw  and 
ran  toward  the  young  fellow,  crying:  "Rico, 
oh,  Rico,  is  it  you?  Are  you  still  living?  Is  it 
really  you  and  you  have  come  back?  But  you 
have  grown,  I  did  not  know  you  at  first;  but 
when  I  looked  in  your  face,  I  knew  you  at 
once!  No  one  has  a  face  like  you!" 

And  Stineli  stood  before  her  friend,  red  as 
fire  from  joy,  and  Rico  was  as  white  as  snow 
from  inner  excitement  and  could  not  speak  at 
first  and  only  looked  at  Stineli.  Then  he  said : 
"You  too  have  grown,  Stineli,  but  else  you  are 
still  as  you  used  to  be.  The  nearer  I  came  to 
the  house,  the  greater  grew  my  fear  that  per 
haps  you  had  changed." 

"Oh,  Rico,  that  you  are  here  again!"  re 
joiced  Stineli.  "Oh,  if  Grandmother  knew  it! 
But  you  must  come  in,  Rico,  how  surprised  they 
[124] 


BACK  OVER  THE  MOUNTAINS 

all  will  be!"  Stineli  ran  ahead  and  opened 
the  door  and  Rico  went  in.  The  children  hid 
at  once  always  one  behind  the  other,  and  the 
mother  rose  and  greeted  Rico  like  a  stranger 
and  asked  what  he  would  like  to  have.  Neither 
she  nor  one  of  the  children  had  recognized  him. 

"Do  you  not  all  know  him?"  Stineli  broke 
forth.  "It  is  Rico!" 

Now  the  wondering  began  on  all  sides,  and 
they  were  still  at  it  when  the  father  entered,  for 
his  midday  meal. 

Rico  went  to  meet  him  and  offered  his  hand. 
The  father  took  it  and  looked  at  the  young 
fellow.  "Is  it  perhaps  one  of  our  cousins?" 
the  father  asked,  for  he  did  not  know  his  rela 
tives  very  well. 

"Now  father  does  not  know  him  either," 
said  Stineli,  a  little  aroused.  "Don't  you 
know  him?  It  is  Rico,  father!" 

"Well,  well,  that  is  good,"  remarked  the 
father  and  looked  at  him  from  head  to  foot, 
then  he  added,  "you  may  show  yourself,  have 
you  learned  some  kind  of  a  trade?  Come  sit 
down  with  us,  then  you  can  tell  how  things 
have  gone  with  you." 

Rico  did  not  sit  down  at  once,  he  kept  on 
looking  at  the  door;  at  last  he  asked  hesitat 
ingly:  "Where  is  Grandmother?"  The  father 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

answered  that  she  was  lying  in  Sils,  not  far 
from  the  old  teacher.  Rico  had  hesitated  to 
put  the  question,  because  he  feared  the  answer, 
since  he  saw  the  grandmother  nowhere.  Now 
he  sat  down  with  the  rest,  but  he  was  very 
quiet  for  some  time,  and  he  could  not  eat;  he 
had  loved  the  grandmother. 

But  now  the  father  wanted  to  hear  the  story, 
where  Rico  had  gone  on  that  day  when  they 
had  searched  for  him  in  the  mountains.  Then 
Rico  told  all  that  he  had  experienced  and  came 
to  talk  of  Silvio  and  Mrs.  Menotti  and  now  ex 
plained  clearly  why  he  had  come,  and  that  he 
wanted  to  return  to  Peschiera  with  Stineli  as 
soon  as  the  parents  would  allow  it.  Stineli 
opened  her  eyes  wide  while  Rico  told  his  story. 
She  had  not  heard  a  word  of  all  this.  Her 
heart  burned  with  joy:  to  go  with  Rico  to  his 
lake  and  be  again  together  with  him  every  day 
and  with  the  good  lady  and  Silvio  who  wanted 
her. 

The  father  was  silent  for  some  time,  for  he 
never  was  over-hasty.  Then  he  said:  "It  is 
right,  that  one  should  go  among  strangers,  she 
learns  something,  but  Stineli  cannot  go,  it  can 
not  be  thought  of.  She  is  necessary  at  home; 
another  can  go,  perhaps  Trudi." 

"Yes,  yes,  that  is  better,"  said  the  mother, 
[126] 


BACK  OVER  THE  MOUNTAINS 

"I  cannot  do  without  Stineli."  Then  Trudi 
lifted  up  her  head  and  said:  "I  should  like  it, 
for  with  us  there  is  nothing  but  screamings  of 
the  children." 

Stineli  did  not  say  a  word;  she  only  looked 
eagerly  at  Rico,  to  see  whether  he  would  not  say 
anything  more,  since  father  had  .refused  so  de 
cidedly,  and  whether  now  he  would  take  Trudi 
back  with  him.  But  Rico  looked  fearlessly  at 
the  father  and  said : 

"That  will  not  do.  The  sick  Silvio  will  have 
no  one  else  but  Stineli,  and  he  knows  what  he 
wants.  He  would  just  send  Trudi  back  again, 
and  then  she  would  have  made  the  journey  for 
nothing.  And  Mrs.  Menotti  has  told  me  that, 
if  Stineli  got  on  well  with  Silvio  she  could  send 
every  month  five  florins  home,  if  you  should 
wish  it,  and  that  Silvio  and  Stineli  will  get  on 
together  I  am  as  sure  of  as  if  I  saw  it  already 
with  my  own  eyes." 

When  the  father  was  through  with  eating, 
he  put  his  plate  aside  and  put  on  his  cap.  For 
hard  thinking  he  liked  to  have  his  cap  on  his 
head,  as  if  the  cap  could  keep  his  thoughts 
together. 

Now  he  thought  within  himself,  how  hard  he 
had  to  work  before  he  could  get  one  florin,  and 
then  he  said  to  himself:  "Five  florins  without 
[127] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

moving  a  finger."  Then  he  pushed  the  cap  to 
the  other  side  of  his  head,  and  then  back  again, 
and  then  he  said:  "She  can  go,  another  child 
can  do  something,  too." 

Stineli's  eyes  shone,  but  the  mother  looked, 
sighing,  at  the  many  heads  and  plates,  for  who 
was  to  help  keep  these  all  clean?  And  Trudi 
pushed  Peterli  with  her  elbow  and  said,  "Do 
sit  still  for  once,"  although  he  was  quietly  eat 
ing  his  beans. 

But  the  father  once  more  pushed  his  cap, 
something  had  come  into  his  mind.  "But 
Stineli  is  not  yet  confirmed,"  he  said.  "She 
will  have  to  be  confirmed." 

"I  am  going  to  be  confirmed  only  two  years 
from  now,"  said  Stineli  eagerly.  "I  can  very 
well  go  away  for  the  two  years  and  then  come 
back  home  again."  That  was  a  good  way  out 
of  the  difficulty,  and  they  all  were  contented. 
The  father  and  the  mother  thought,  if  every 
thing  went  wrong  without  Stineli,  then  it 
would  be  only  for  a  time,  and  that  would  pass 
and  afterward  she  would  be  there  again,  and 
Trudi  thought:  "As  soon  as  she  is  back  again, 
then  I  will  go  and  then  they  will  see  who  comes 
back."  But  Rico  and  Stineli  looked  at  each 
other  and  bright  joy  shone  from  their  eyes. 

Since  the  father  now  looked  upon  the  thing 
[128] 


BACK  OVER  THE  MOUNTAINS 

as  decided,  he  rose  from  the  table  and  said: 
"They  may  go  tomorrow,  then  one  knows 
what  one  has  to  do."  But  the  mother  began 
to  lament  and  said  that  must  not  be  so  soon, 
and  she  kept  on  lamenting  until  the  father 
said:  "Then  they  may  go  Monday,"  but  he 
did  not  wish  to  delay,  because  he  thought  that 
the  lamenting  would  continue  until  parting  had 
taken  place. 

There  was  much  to  be  done  by  Stineli,  Rico 
understood  that,  and  he  turned  to  Sami  and 
said  to  him  that  he  wanted  to  see  whether 
things  had  changed  in  Sils-Maria ;  and  then  he 
had  to  fetch  a  bag  and  a  basket  from  Sils,  Sami 
could  help  him  carry  them.  So  they  started 
out.  Rico  stopped  before  his  former  home 
first  and  looked  at  the  old  house-door;  all  was 
the  same.  He  asked  Sami  whether  the  aunt 
was  still  living  there  all  alone.  But  the  aunt 
had  long  since  gone  away,  high  up  to  Silva- 
plana,  and  no  one  had  seen  her  again,  for  she 
never  came  to  Sils-Maria.  In  the  house  lived 
people  of  whom  Rico  knew  nothing.  Every 
where  he  went  with  Sami  before  the  old,  well- 
known  houses  and  also  before  the  barns,  people 
stared  at  him,  but  not  a  single  person  recog 
nized  him.  When  they  went  to  Sils  toward 
evening,  Rico  turned  into  the  churchyard;  he 
[129] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

wanted  to  go  to  the  grandmother's  grave,  but 
Sami  did  not  know  exactly  which  it  was. 

Loaded  with  bag  and  basket,  the  two  re 
turned  when  it  began  to  be  dark.  Stineli  stood 
at  the  well  and  was  cleaning  the  feeding  pail 
for  the  last  time,  and  when  Rico  stood  beside 
her,  she  said  with  beaming  eyes:  "I  cannot 
yet  really  believe  it,  Rico!" 

"But  I  can,"  said  the  latter  so  firmly  that 
Stineli  looked  at  him,  much  surprised.  "But 
do  you  know,  Stineli,"  he  added,  "you  have 
not  had  to  think  of  it  so  long  as  I." 

Stineli  was  surprised  several  times  more  that 
Rico  could  say  anything  so  decidedly ;  she  had 
not  known  that  in  him  formerly. 

A  bed  had  been  arranged  for  Rico  in  the 
attic  room;  up  there  he  took  his  things,  for  he 
did  not  want  to  unpack  until  tomorrow.  When 
now,  on  the  following  morning,  on  the  bright, 
beautiful  Sunday,  all  sat  around  the  table, 
Rico  came  and  shook  such  a  heap  of  plums 
and  figs  before  Urschli  and  Peterli  as  they  had 
never  seen  in  their  whole  life;  and  they  never 
had  tasted  figs;  and  he  placed  his  quantity  of 
meat  and  sausages  and  eggs  in  the  middle  of 
the  table.  And  after  the  great  astonishment 
had  passed,  there  began  a  great  feast  in  the 
cottage. 

[130] 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

Two  Happy  Travellers 

HE  journey  had  to  begin  Monday  to 
ward  evening.  So  the  horse-dealer  had 
told  Rico  and  he  now  knew  his  road 
perfectly.  So,  after  the  leave-taking 
was  over,  Rico  and  Stineli  wandered 
toward  Sils,  and  at  the  little  house  stood  the 
mother  and  all  the  little  children  around  her 
and  looked  after  them.  Sami  walked  beside 
them  and  carried  the  bag  on  his  head,  and  the 
basket  was  carried  by  Rico  on  one  side  and 
Stineli  on  the  other.  Stineli's  clothes  had  just 
filled  it. 

Near  the  church  in  Sils,  Stineli  said:  "If 
Grandmother  could  only  see  us.  Let  us  take 
leave  from  her,  will  you,  Rico?"  He  was 
ready  and  told  Stineli  that  he  had  already  been 
there  but  could  not  find  her;  but  Stineli  knew 
where  the  grandmother  slept. 

When  the  postchaise  drove  up  and  stopped, 
the  coachman  called  out:  "Are  the  two  here 
who  have  to  go  to  the  Garda  Lake?  I  have 
already  asked  yesterday  for  them." 

[131] 
10 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

The  horse-dealer  had  well  recommended 
them,  and  now  the  driver  called  out:  "Up 
here,  the  others  are  frozen,  the  coach  is  full, 
you  are  young."  Then  he  helped  them  on  the 
seat  behind  the  box,  up  high  on  the  coach,  took 
a  heavy  horse-cover  and  covered  and  stuffed  it 
around  the  two,  so  that  they  sat  there  closely 
enveloped;  and  then  the  coach  started. 

Rico  and  Stineli  sat  alone  together  for  the 
first  time  since  they  had  met  again,  and  now 
they  could  talk  to  each  other  undisturbed  of 
all  that  they  had  lived  through  in  the  three 
years.  In  the  morning  they  came  on  the  lake 
and  just  about  the  same  time  that  Rico  had 
arrived  at  Peschiera  they  also  arrived,  and 
they  came  down  the  road  toward  the  lake. 
But  Rico  did  not  want  Stineli  to  see  the  lake 
until  they  had  come  to  his  little  spot,  so  he  led 
her  between  the  trees,  until  all  at  once  they 
came  out  near  the  narrow  bridge  and  stepped 
into  the  open. 

There  the  lake  lay  in  the  evening  sunshine 
and  Rico  and  Stineli  sat  down  on  the  low  hill 
side  and  looked  across.  The  lake  was  as  Rico 
had  described  it,  but  much  more  beautiful,  for 
Stineli  had  never  seen  such  colors.  She  looked 
hither  and  thither  at  the  violet  mountains  and 
on  the  golden  water  and,  full  of  delight,  she 
[132] 


TWO  HAPPY  TRAVELLERS 

exclaimed  at  last:  "It  is  much  more  beautiful 
than  the  Silser  Lake." 

But  Rico  had  never  seen  it  so  beautiful  as  it 
was  today,  as  he  sat  there  with  Stineli.  Rico 
had  another  joy — how  he  would  surprise  Silvio 
and  his  mother !  No  one  had  thought  that  he 
could  be  back  so  soon.  No  one  expected  him 
back  before  a  week,  and  now  they  already  sat 
by  the  lake.  They  remained  sitting  there  until 
the  sun  went  down.  Rico  had  to  tell  Stineli 
where  his  mother  stood  when  she  was  washing 
in  the  lake  and  he  sat  there  and  waited  for  her, 
and  he  had  to  tell  her  how  they  came  over  the 
narrow  bridge  and  she  was  holding  his  hand. 

"But  where  did  you  go  then?"  Stineli  asked. 
"Have  you  never  found  the  house  into  which 
you  went?" 

Rico  shook  his  head.  "When  I  go  toward 
the  railroad,  then  it  seems  to  me  all  at  once,  as 
if  I  had  stood  there  with  mother  and  I  had  sat 
on  a  step  and  before  us  the  red  flowers;  but 
there  is  nothing  more  now,  and  I  do  not  know 
the  road,  I  have  never  seen  it." 

At  last  they  got  up  and  went  toward  the 
garden.  Rico  carried  the  bag  and  Stineli  the 
basket.  When  they  stepped  into  the  garden, 
Stineli  had  to  exclaim  exultantly:  "Oh,  how 
beautiful!  Oh,  the  beautiful  flowers!" 
[133] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

Then  Silvio  lifted  himself  up  like  a  feather. 
He  shouted  with  all  his  might:  "Rico  is 
coming  with  Stineli!" 

The  mother  thought  that  he  had  fever;  she 
threw  down  her  things  into  the  chest  in  which 
she  was  rummaging,  and  came  running  in. 

At  the  same  moment  the  living  Rico  stepped 
in  the  doorway,  and  the  fright  and  the  joy 
almost  knocked  the  good  woman  over,  for  up 
to  this  moment  she  had  had  the  worst  secret 
misgivings  that  the  journey  might  cost  Rico's 
life. 

From  behind  Rico  a  girl  came  forth  with  such 
a  friendly  face  that  it  at  once  won  the  lady's 
heart,  for  she  was  a  woman  of  sudden  impulses. 
But  first  she  had  to  shake  Rico's  hands  almost 
from  their  wrists  for  joy,  and  during  this  Stineli 
went  quickly  to  Silvio's  bed  and  greeted  him, 
and  she  put  her  arm  around  the  little  fellow's 
narrow  shoulders  and  laughed  friendly  into  his 
face,  just  as  if  they  had  known  each  other  for  a 
long  time  and  had  loved  each  other,  and  Silvio 
put  his  hand  around  her  neck  and  drew  her  face 
down  on  his.  Then  Stineli  put  a  present  on 
Silvio's  bed  which  she  had  put  in  her  pocket  to 
have  it  handy.  It  was  a  work  of  art,  which 
Peterli  had  always  liked  better  than  any  other 
toy:  a  fir  cone,  between  the  hard  projections 
[134] 


TWO  HAPPY  TRAVELLERS 

little  wires  were  stuck,  at  the  end  of  each  was 
a  little  figure  cut  out  of  thin  wood.  All  these 
little  figures  floundered  against  each  other  and 
bowed  to  each  other,  and  had  such  fiery  faces, 
made  with  red  chalk  and  coal,  that  Silvio  could 
not  stop  laughing. 

During  this,  the  mother  had  heard  from  Rico 
all  necessary  to  assure  her  that  he  was  back 
again,  safe  and  sound,  and  now  she  turned  to 
Stineli  and  greeted  her  with  the  greatest  friend 
liness,  and  Stineli  answered  more  with  her 
friendly  eyes  than  her  mouth,  for  she  knew  no 
Italian,  and  she  had  to  use  the  few  Italian 
words  she  knew,  the  best  she  could.  But  she 
was  bright  and  knew  how  to  help  herself  and  if 
she  did  not  know  the  word  then  she  made  all 
kinds  of  signs  with  her  fingers,  which  Silvio 
found  unspeakably  amusing,  for  it  was  like  a 
game,  where  something  had  to  be  guessed  all 
the  time. 

Now  Mrs.  Menotti  went  to  the  chest  where 
everything  was  ready  for  a  meal:  plates  and 
tablecloth,  and  cold  chicken,  and  the  fruit  and 
a  bottle  of  wine.  As  soon  as  Stineli  noticed 
this  she  ran  at  once  after  Mrs.  Menotti  and 
carried  everything  to  the  table,  and  was  so 
astoundingly  quick  that  Mrs.  Menotti  had 
nothing  more  to  do,  but  to  watch  in  surprise; 
[135] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

and  before  she  had  time  to  think,  Silvio  had 
everything  on  his  tray,  cut  up  and  laid  ready 
and  quite  properly,  as  it  ought  to  be,  and  such 
quick  service  much  pleased  our  Silvio. 

Then  Mrs.  Menotti  sat  down  and  said:  "It 
is  long  since  things  went  so  well  with  me,  but 
now  come,  Stineli,  and  sit  down  and  eat  with 
us." 

Now  all  ate  joyously  together,  just  as  if  they 
had  always  belonged  together  and  always 
would  stay  together.  Then  Rico  began  to 
report  of  the  journey,  and  the  while  Stineli  got 
up  and  cleared  everything  away  again  into  the 
chest,  where  everything  had  its  place.  Then 
she  sat  down  quite  close  to  Silvio's  bed  and 
made  figures  with  her  nimble  fingers,  so  that 
the  shadow  fell  upon  the  wall,  and  every 
moment  Silvio  laughed  a  clear  laugh  and  called 
out:  "A  hare!  An  animal  with  horns!  A 
spider  with  long  legs!" 

Thus  the  evening  went  by  so  quickly  and 
happily  that  when  the  clock  struck  ten  no  one 
could  understand  where  the  time  had  gone. 
Rico  rose  from  the  table,  he  knew  that  now  he 
must  go ;  but  it  seemed  as  if  a  black  cloud  had 
come  over  his  face.  He  said  curtly:  "Good 
night!"  and  went  out.  But  Stineli  followed 
him,  and  at  the  garden  gate  she  took  his  hand 
[136] 


Then  .she  .    .    .    made  figures  with  her  nimble  fingers  so  that  the  shadow 
Jell  upon  the  wall.    .    .    . 


TWO  HAPPY  TRAVELLERS 

and  said :  "  Now,  Rico,  you  must  not  be  sad,  it 
is  so  beautiful  here,  I  cannot  tell  you  how  much 
I  like  it,  and  I  am  so  glad.  And  for  all  this  I 
have  to  thank  you.  And  you  will  come  to 
morrow  and  every  day.  Aren't  you  glad, 
Rico?" 

'Yes,"  he  said,  and  looked  at  Stineli  quite 
gloomily,  "and  every  evening,  when  it  is  most 
beautiful  I  have  to  go  away,  and  I  belong  to  no 
one." 

"Oh,  Rico,  you  must  not  think  so,"  encour 
aged  Stineli,  "we  always  belonged  together, 
and  I  have  looked  forward,  for  three  years,  to 
when  we  should  again  be  together,  and  some 
times  things  went  on  at  home  when  I  would 
rather  not  be  there;  then  I  thought,  'if  I  could 
only  be  once  more  with  Rico,  then  I  would 
gladly  do  everything.'  And  now  everything 
has  come  so  that  I  could  know  no  greater  joy, 
and  you  will  not  be  glad  with  me,  Rico?" 

"Yes,  I  will,"  said  Rico,  and  looked  at  Stineli 
with  brighter  eyes.  He  did,  after  all,  belong 
to  someone,  Stineli's  words  had  brought  back 
his  balance.  They  shook  hands  once  more, 
and  Rico  went  out  of  the  garden. 

When  Stineli  returned  to  the  room  and 
wanted  to  bid  Silvio  good  night,  then  a  new 
battle  had  to  be  fought;  he  did  not  want  to  let 
[137] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

her  leave  him  and  kept  on  calling:  "Stineli 
must  stay  with  me  and  always  sit  by  my  bed, 
she  says  such  funny  words  and  laughs  with  her 
eyes."  Nothing  could  be  done,  until  the 
mother  finally  said:  "All  right,  hold  Stineli  by 
her  dress,  the  whole  night,  so  that  she  cannot 
sleep,  then  she  will  be  ill  tomorrow,  as  you  are, 
and  cannot  get  up,  and  you  will  not  see  her  for 
a  very  long  time." 

Then  Silvio  let  go  of  Stineli  and  said:  "Go, 
Stineli,  and  sleep;  but  come  again  tomorrow 
very  early." 

Stineli  promised  that;  and  now  Mrs.  Menotti 
showed  Stineli  a  nice,  clean  bedroom,  which 
looked  out  on  the  garden,  from  which  a  sweet 
odor  of  flowers  came  through  the  open  window. 

From  day  to  day  Stineli  became  more  and 
more  indispensable  to  Silvio;  if  she  went  only 
out  of  the  door,  he  considered  it  a  misfortune. 
But  then  he  behaved  always  properly  and  well 
when  she  was  with  him,  and  did  everything 
that  she  asked  him  to  do,  and  did  not  torment 
his  mother  any  more.  It  also  seemed  as  if  the 
nervous  little  boy,  since  Stineli's  arrival,  had 
lost  all  his  pains,  for  up  till  now  he  had  not 
lamented  once  since  she  sat  by  his  bed,  and  yet 
many  a  day  had  passed  since  the  first  evening 
when  she  had  appeared. 

[138] 


TWO  HAPPY  TRAVELLERS 

But  Stineli  had  an  inexhaustible  fund  of  en 
tertainment,  and  all  that  she  took  in  her  hand, 
and  what  she  did  and  said,  became  a  pleasant 
pastime  for  Silvio,  for  Stineli,  from  a  little  girl 
on,  had  had  to  look  after  little  children  and  had 
to  think  always,  to  keep  them  satisfied  with 
words  and  hands  and  looks  and  in  every  way 
and  motion. 

So  Stineli  was,  in  her  existence  and  whole 
manner,  unconsciously  to  herself,  the  most 
agreeable  entertainment  which  could  be  found 
for  a  sensitive  little  boy  who  was  confined  to  his 
bed.  The  clever  little  Stineli  had  soon  learned 
all  Silvio's  words,  and  talked  with  Silvio  undis 
mayed  in  Italian,  and  when  she  turned  her 
words  in  the  wrong  places  then  Silvio  thought 
that  a  capital  joke,  and  the  whole  thing  seemed 
planned  to  give  him  pleasure. 

The  mother  could  never  see  Rico  enter  the 
garden  without  running  to  meet  him,  for  now 
she  could  run  wherever  she  wanted  to,  and 
whenever  she  wanted,  and  she  had  to  take  him 
aside  to  tell  him  what  a  treasure  he  had  brought 
into  the  house,  how  happy  and  joyful  little  Sil 
vio  was,  as  never  before  in  his  life,  and  how  she 
could  not  comprehend  that  such  a  girl  could 
have  been  found  on  earth.  For,  with  Silvio  she 
was  like  a  child,  just  as  though  she  herself  had 
[139] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

the  greatest  joy  in  the  things  which  gave 
pleasure  to  the  little  boy ;  and  with  her  she  could 
talk  as  sensibly,  and  had  such  experience  in 
work  and  in  arranging  things,  as  hardly  a  mar 
ried  woman  had.  And  since  she  had  this  Sti- 
neli  in  the  house,  everything  was  going  as  of  it 
self,  and  she  had  Sunday  every  day.  In  short, 
Mrs.  Menotti  could  not  find  words  enough  to 
admire  and  praise  Stineli  in  all  her  character 
istics,  and  Rico  loved  to  listen  to  her  praise. 
When  then  they  all  sat  together  within,  and 
one  looked  at  the  other  always  friendlier,  just 
as  though  none  wanted  to  leave  the  other  any 
more,  then  one  would  have  thought  that  they 
were  the  happiest  people  far  and  near.  But 
with  every  evening  the  cloud  on  Rico's  face 
became  darker  and  blacker,  the  moment  the 
clock  struck  ten,  and  although  Mrs.  Menotti 
in  her  happy  mood  did  not  notice  it,  yet  Stineli 
saw  it  and  secretly  she  was  troubled  and 
thought:  "It  is  as  if  a  thunderstorm  wants  to 
break  forth." 


[140] 


CHAPTER  XIX 

Clouds  on  the  Garda  Lake 

HERE  came  a  beautiful  autumnal  Sun 
day,  and  across  the  lake  in  Riva  was 
to  be  a  dance ;  and  Rico  was  to  go  over 
the  lake  to  play  there.  So  he  could  not 
spend  the  Sunday  with  Stineli  and  the 
others ;  that  had  been  talked  over  several  times 
during  the  week  for  it  was  an  event  in  which 
all  were  concerned,  if  Rico  did  not  come,  and 
Stineli  tried  her  best  to  find  a  good  side  in  the 
happening.  "You  go  then  in  the  sunshine 
over  the  lake  and  return  under  the  star-covered 
sky,  and  we  think  of  you  the  whole  time,"  she 
had  told  him  when  first  he  spoke  of  the  dance 
Sunday. 

Rico  came  Saturday  evening  with  his  violin, 
for  Stineli's  greatest  joy  was  his  playing.     Rico 
played  beautiful  melodies  one  after  the  other, 
but  they  were  all  sad,  and  it  seemed  that  they 
acted  on  the  player,  for  he  looked  at  his  violin 
with  a  gloominess  as  if  it  did  some  harm  to  him. 
Suddenly  he  put  away  his  bow  long  before  it 
struck  ten,  and  said:  "I  will  go." 
[141] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

Mrs.  Menotti  wanted  to  keep  him,  but  she 
did  not  understand  what  he  was  thinking. 
But  Stineli  had  watched  him  closely  while  he 
had  been  playing;  now  she  only  said,  "I  will  go 
a  few  steps  with  you." 

"No!"  cried  Silvio,  "do  not  go  away,  stay 
here,  Stineli." 

"Yes,  yes,  Stineli,"  said  Rico,  "stay  here, 
and  let  me  go."  With  these  words  he  looked 
at  Stineli  just  as  he  had  when  he  came  from  the 
teacher  to  the  woodpile  and  said :  "All  is  lost." 

Stineli  went  to  Silvio's  bed  and  said  softly: 
"Be  good,  Silvio;  I  will  tell  you  the  funniest 
story  tomorrow,  about  Peterli,  but  you  must 
not  make  any  noise  now." 

Silvio  really  did  keep  quiet  and  Stineli  went 
after  Rico.  When  they  stood  at  the  garden 
fence,  Rico  turned  round  and  pointed  to  the 
brightly  lighted  room,  which  looked  so  home 
like  from  the  garden,  and  said:  "Go  back, 
Stineli;  you  belong  there  and  are  at  home 
there,  and  I  belong  on  the  street,  I  am  only  a 
homeless  one,  and  so  it  will  always  be ;  therefore 
let  me  go!" 

"No,  no,  I  shall  not  let  you  go  thus;  Rico, 
where  are  you  going  now?" 

"To  the  lake,"  said  Rico,  and  went  toward 
the  bridge.  Stineli  went  with  him.  When 
[142] 


CLOUDS  ON  THE  GARDA  LAKE 

they  stood  at  the  hillside,  they  heard  the  waves 
whispering  softly  below  and  they  listened  for  a 
while,  then  Rico  said: 

:'You  see,  Stineli,  if  you  were  not  here,  I 
should  go  away  at  once,  far  away,  but  I  should 
not  know  where.  I  shall  have  to  be  a  home 
less  wanderer  and  play  in  taverns  my  whole  life 
long,  where  there  is  an  eternal  tumult  as  if  they 
were  crazy,  and  I  must  sleep  in  a  room,  where 
I  would  rather  never  go  in ;  and  you  belong  now 
to  them  in  the  beautiful  house  and  I  belong 
nowhere.  And  do  you  see,  when  I  look  down 
there,  then  I  think  if  my  mother  had  only 
thrown  me  into  the  lake,  before  she  had  to  die, 
then  I  would  not  have  become  a  homeless  one." 

Stineli  had  listened  to  Rico  with  a  troubled 
heart,  but  when  he  said  these  last  words,  she 
had  a  great  shock  and  exclaimed:  "Oh,  Rico, 
you  must  not  say  anything  like  that.  I  am 
afraid  you  have  not  prayed  your  Lord's  prayer 
for  a  long  time,  therefore  these  bad  thoughts 
have  come  to  you." 

"No,  I  have  not  prayed  it  long  since,  I  have 
forgotten  it." 

That  was  terrible  news  for  Stineli. 

"If  Grandmother  knew  that,  Rico,"  she 
lamented,  "she  would  be  in  great  trouble  on 
your  account.  Do  you  know  what  she  often 
[143] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

said:  'He  who  forgets  the  Lord's  prayer,  will 
suffer  for  it ! '  Oh,  come,  Rico,  you  must  learn 
it  again,  I  will  teach  it  to  you.  You  will  soon 
know  it  again."  And  Stineli  began  and  said 
with  warm  compassion  in  her  heart,  twice  in 
succession,  the  Lord's  prayer  to  Rico.  As  he 
now  followed  the  words,  in  deepest  interest, 
Stineli  noticed  that  there  was  much  comfort  in 
them  for  Rico,  and  when  she  had  ended,  she 
said:  :'You  see,  Rico,  because  the  kingdom 
belongs  to  the  dear  Lord,  so  He  can  find  a  home 
for  you,  and  to  Him  belongs  also  the  power, 
that  He  can  give  it  to  you." 

"Now  you  can  see,  Stineli,"  said  Rico,  "If 
God  had  a  home  for  me  in  His  kingdom,  and 
had  the  power  to  give  it  to  me,  then  He  does 
not  want  to  give  me  a  home." 

"But  you  have  to  consider  one  thing,"  Sti 
neli  continued,  "the  dear  God  may  say  to 
Himself:  'If  Rico  wants  to  get  something 
from  Me,  then  he  can  pray  for  it  and  tell  Me 
what  he  wants. ' 

Rico  could  not  say  anything  against  that. 
He  was  silent  for  a  long  while,  then  he  said: 
"Say  once  more  the  Lord's  prayer,  I  will  learn 
it  again." 

Stineli  said  it  once  more,  then  Rico  knew  it 
again,  and  had  it  well  in  his  mind.  Now  they 
[144] 


CLOUDS  ON  THE  GARDA  LAKE 

went  peacefully  home,  each  side  by  side,  and 
Rico  must  still  think  on  the  Kingdom  and  the 
Power.  But  in  the  evening,  when  he  was  in 
his  quiet  room,  he  prayed  with  his  whole  heart 
very  humbly,  for  he  felt  that  he  had  done 
wrong  to  think  that  God  should  give  him 
what  he  wanted  and  he  had  never  prayed  for  it. 

Stineli  stepped  thoughtfully  into  the  garden. 
She  was  considering  whether  she  should  talk 
with  Mrs.  Menotti;  perhaps  she  might  find  a 
different  occupation  for  Rico,  than  this  playing 
for  dances  in  taverns,  which  was  so  distasteful 
to  him.  But  the  thought  of  troubling  Mrs. 
Menotti  with  her  affairs  left  her  when  she 
entered  the  room.  Silvio  lay  as  red  as  fire  on 
his  pillows,  and  breathed  quickly  and  irregu 
larly,  and  Mrs.  Menotti  sat  by  his  bed  and  was 
weeping  bitterly.  Silvio  had  had  again  one  of 
his  attacks  and  great  pain,  and  a  little  anger 
that  Stineli  was  away  might  have  increased  the 
fever.  The  mother  was  more  downcast  than 
Stineli  had  ever  known  her.  When  finally  she 
cheered  up  a  little,  she  said: 

"Come,  Stineli,  sit  down  here  beside  me,  I 
should  like  to  tell  you  something.  You  see, 
something  lies  so  heavily  on  my  heart,  that  I 
often  feel  that  I  cannot  bear  it  any  longer.  To 
be  sure,  you  are  young,  but  you  are  a  sensible 
[145] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

girl  and  have  seen  much,  and  I  feel  it  would 
ease  me  if  I  were  to  speak  with  you  over  my 
trouble.  You  see  how  it  is  with  Silvio,  my 
only  son.  Now  I  have  not  only  the  sorrow  of 
his  illness,  which  can  never  get  better,  but  I 
must  often  tell  myself,  it  is  perhaps  a  judgment 
of  God,  because  we  have  kept  unjust  possession 
and  are  enjoying  it,  although  we  did  not  wish 
to  keep  it.  But  I  will  tell  you  all  from  the 
beginning. 

"When  we  married,  Menotti  and  I, — he  had 
fetched  me  across  from  Riva,  where  my  father 
is  still  living, — then  Menotti  had  here  a  friend, 
who  wanted  to  leave  Peschiera  because  he  had 
learned  to  dislike  the  place,  for  he  had  lost  his 
wife.  He  had  a  cottage  and  a  large  piece  of 
land,  not  especially  good  land,  but  a  very  large 
stretch.  Then  he  wanted  my  husband  to  take 
care  of  everything,  and  said  that  the  land  did 
not  bring  in  much,  he  should  keep  it  in  order 
and  the  house  also,  until  he  should  return  in  a 
few  years. 

"So  the  friends  arranged  it  between  them  and 
they  thought  much  of  each  other  and  they 
made  no  arrangement  about  interest.  My 
husband  said :  '  You  must  have  your  affairs  in 
order  when  you  come  back,'  for  he  wanted  to 
look  well  after  his  friend's  belongings,  and  he 
[146] 


CLOUDS  ON  THE  GARDA  LAKE 

understood  farming  and  his  friend  knew  that 
and  left  everything  to  him. 

"But  a  year  after  he  went,  the  railroad  was 
built,  the  cottage  had  to  go  with  the  garden; 
and  the  field  was  needed,  for  the  railroad  ran 
over  it.  So  my  husband  received  much  more 
money  than  the  estate  was  worth,  and  he 
bought  good  land  farther  down,  and  the  garden, 
and  built  this  house,  all  from  the  money  which 
he  received  for  the  cottage  and  the  poor  land. 
And  the  land  brought  in  more  than  double,  so 
that  we  have  the  richest  harvest.  But  I  said 
to  my  husband,  'It  does  not  belong  to  us,  and 
we  live  in  plenty  out  of  the  estate  of  someone 
else;  if  we  only  knew,  where  he  is!'  But  my 
husband  quieted  me  and  said:  'I  keep  every 
thing  in  order  for  him,  and  when  he  returns, 
then  everything  is  his  and  of  the  gain,  which  I 
put  aside,  he  must  have  his  share  also.' 

"Then  Silvio  came  to  us,  and  when  I  discov 
ered  that  the  child  was  paralyzed,  I  had  to 
talk  more  and  more  to  my  husband  and  say: 
'We  are  living  in  wrong  possession,  it  is 
God's  punishment  for  our  wrongdoing.'  And 
many  a  time  it  seemed  to  me  such  a  load,  that  I 
almost  would  have  preferred  to  be  poor  and 
without  a  roof.  But  my  husband  comforted 
me  again  and  said :  '  You  will  see  how  satisfied 
[147] 


11 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

he  will  be  with  me  when  he  comes/  But  he 
never  came.  Then  my  husband  died,  four 
years  ago;  you  cannot  imagine  what  I  have 
suffered  since  then,  and  I  must  always  think, 
how  can  I  get  rid  of  the  wrong  possession  with 
out  doing  wrong,  for  I  have  to  keep  the  estate 
in  order  until  the  friend  returns.  And  then  I 
wonder  again,  if  he  is  now  somewhere  in 
misery,  and  I  live  meanwhile  so  well  from  his 
estate  and  know  nothing  about  him." 

Stineli  had  felt  very  sorry  for  the  lady,  for 
she  could  imagine  so  well  how  the  woman  felt, 
who  accused  herself  of  doing  wrong  and  yet 
could  not  change  it.  And  she  comforted  Mrs- 
Menotti  and  said  to  her,  that  if  one  did  not 
wish  to  do  wrong,  and  would  so  much  like  to 
make  good,  then  one  should  pray  with  confi 
dence  to  God  and  ask  Him  that  He  would 
help,  for  He  could  make  something  good  out  of 
that  which  we  had  made  wrong,  and  He  would 
do  it  if  we  were  sorry  for  that,  which  we  had 
made  wrong.  She  knew  all  that  from  the 
grandmother,  for  she,  Stineli,  once  had  not 
known  how  to  help  herself  and  had  suffered 
great  fear. 

Then  Stineli  told  about  the  lake  which  Rico 
always  had  had  in  his  mind,  and  how  it  was  her 
fault  that  he  had  run  away,  and  how  she  then 
[148] 


CLOUDS  ON  THE  GARDA  LAKE 

had  feared  that  he  had  perished.  And  she  said 
that  she  had  become  happy  again  after  she  had 
prayed  and  had  given  all  her  care  to  the  dear 
God,  and  Mrs.  Menotti  must  do  the  same,  then 
she  would  have  a  light  heart,  and  she  could  then 
think  always  joyously:  "Now  the  Lord  has 
taken  the  thing  in  His  hand." 

Mrs.  Menotti  now  came  into  a  pious  mood 
from  Stineli's  words.  She  could  go  now  peace 
fully  to  rest,  Stineli  had  made  her  very  happy 
with  her  confidence  in  the  Lord. 


[149] 


CHAPTER  XX 

Rico  Finds  his  Home 

HEN  the  golden  Sunday  morning  shone 
over  the  garden  with  the  red  flowers, 
Mrs.  Menotti  stepped  out  of  the  house 
and  sat  down  on  the  bench  near  the 
hedge.  She  looked  all  around  and  had 
her  own  thoughts.  Here  the  oleander  flowers 
and  the  laurel  hedge  behind  them,  there  the 
full  fig-trees  and  the  golden  grapes  among  them, 
— then  she  said  softly  to  herself:  "God  knows 
I  should  be  glad  if  the  wrong  were  taken  from 
my  conscience,  but  I  should  find  it  nowhere  so 
beautiful  as  it  is  here." 

Now  Rico  came  into  the  garden,  he  had  to 
go  away  in  the  afternoon,  and  he  could  not 
stand  it  to  be  away  the  whole  day  without  com 
ing  at  all.  Just  when  he  was  about  going  to 
the  room,  Mrs.  Menotti  called  to  him  and 
said: 

"Sit  down  for  a  moment  here  with  me;  who 
knows  how  long  we  shall  sit  here  beside  each 
other!" 
Rico  was  frightened. 

[150] 


RICO  FINDS  HIS  HOME 

"Why,  Mrs.  Menotti,  I  hope  you  are  not 
thinking  of  leaving?" 

Now  Mrs.  Menotti  had  to  turn  the  conver 
sation,  she  could  not  tell  her  story.  There 
came  into  her  mind  what  Stineli  had  said  about 
Rico,  but  she  had  been  so  full  of  her  own  affairs 
that  she  had  not  understood  it  very  clearly. 
Now  it  began  to  surprise  her,  since  it  came 
again  into  her  mind. 

"Tell  me,  Rico,"  she  began,  "were  you  here 
when  you  were  a  child  so  that  you  wanted  to 
see  the  lake  again,  as  Stineli  told  me  yesterday?'* 

:'Yes,  when  I  was  very  small,"  said  Rico, 
"then  I  left." 

"But  how  did  you  come  here,  when  you 
were  little?" 

"I  was  born  here." 

"What,  here?  What  was  your  father,  that 
he  came  down  here  from  the  mountains?" 

"He  was  not  born  in  the  mountains,  only 
mother." 

"What  are  you  saying,  Rico?  Your  father 
was  not  from  here?" 

'Yes,  he  was  from  here." 

"You  never  have  told  that,  that  is  so  re 
markable!  You  have  no  name  from  here; 
what  was  your  father's  name?" 

"Like  mine:  Henrico  Trevillo." 
[151] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

Mrs.  Menotti  jumped  up  from  the  bench,  as 
though  something  had  struck  her. 

"What  do  you  say,  Rico,"  she  cried,  "what 
did  you  say  just  now?" 

"My  father's  name,"  Rico  said  quietly. 

Mrs.  Menotti  had  not  listened  any  more,  she 
had  run  to  the  door. 

"Stineli,  give  me  a  shawl,"  she  cried  into  the 
house.  "I  have  to  go  at  once  to  the  pastor. 
I  am  trembling  in  every  limb." 

Much  surprised,  Stineli  brought  the  shawl. 

"Come  a  few  steps  with  me,  Rico,"  said 
Mrs.  Menotti  on  leaving,  "I  have  to  ask  you 
something  more." 

Twice  more  Rico  had  to  tell  his  father's 
name,  and  at  the  pastor's  door  she  asked  him 
for  the  third  time,  whether  he  was  sure  of  it. 
Then  she  stepped  into  the  house.  Rico  turned 
back  and  wondered  over  Mrs.  Menotti's 
behavior. 

Rico  had  brought  his  violin  along,  as  he  knew 
that  it  gave  Stineli  pleasure  when  he  came  with 
it.  When  he  now  arrived  with  it  in  the  room, 
he  found  Silvio  and  Stineli  in  the  best  of  moods, 
for  Stineli,  according  to  her  promise,  had  told 
him  the  story  of  Peterli  and  by  doing  this,  she 
had  put  herself  and  Silvio  in  the  best  of  humor. 
When  now  the  latter  espied  the  violin  he  cried 
[152] 


RICO  FINDS  HIS  HOME 

out :  "Now  we  will  sing  the  Lambkins  together 
with  Stineli."  Stineli  had  never  heard  her 
song,  since  she  had  made  it.  Rico  now  played 
many  beautiful  melodies,  and  for  a  long  time 
no  one  had  thought  of  the  song. 

But  that  little  Silvio  should  wish  to  sing  the 
song  was  a  great  surprise  to  Stineli,  for  she  did 
not  know  how  many  hundred  times  Rico  had 
sung  the  song  to  Silvio.  Stineli  was  delighted 
that  she  should  hear  her  song  again  and  was  to 
sing  it  with  Rico.  Now  they  began  and 
Silvio  sang  along  with  all  his  might  with 
out  understanding  a  word ;  he  had  learned 
the  words  by  their  sound  and  had  kept  them 
through  the  many  repetitions.  But  this  time 
the  laughing  was  from  Stineli,  for  Silvio  pro 
nounced  some  of  the  words  so  peculiarly  that 
she  could  not  sing  for  laughing,  and  when  now 
Silvio  saw  Stineli  laugh  so  with  her  whole  face, 
he  too  began  and  then  he  sang  still  louder,  so 
that  Stineli  had  to  scream  from  laughing,  and 
Rico  fiddled  his  "Lambkins  come  down"  with 
all  his  might. 

So  the  singing  laughter  met  Mrs.  Menotti's 
ears  at  a  distance,  when  she  was  approaching 
her  garden,  and  she  could  not  comprehend  how 
that  could  be  in  this  eventful  hour.  She  came 
hastily  through  the  garden  and  stepped  into  the 
[153] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

room.  She  had  to  sit  down  on  the  first  chair, 
for  the  fright  and  the  joy,  and  the  running  and 
the  expectation  of  all  coming  things  had  over 
whelmed  her,  and  she  had  first  to  collect  her 
self.  The  singers  had  become  silent  and  looked, 
surprised,  at  the  mother.  Now  she  had  her 
self  under  control. 

"Rico,"  she  said,  more  solemnly  than  was 
her  wont,  "Rico,  look  around.  This  house, 
this  garden,  the  fields,  everything  that  you  see 
here  and  that  you  cannot  see  from  above  to 
below,  belongs  to  you.  You  are  the  owner,  it 
is  your  paternal  inheritance.  Here  is  your 
home;  your  name  is  in  the  baptismal  book,  you 
are  the  son  of  Henrico  Trevillo,  and  he  was  my 
husband's  dearest  friend." 

Stineli  had  understood  everything  at  the 
first  few  words,  and  inexpressible  joy  spread 
over  her  face.  Rico  sat  there  like  one  turned 
to  stone,  and  could  not  utter  a  sound.  But 
Silvio,  foreboding  great  fun,  broke  forth  in 
loud  rejoicing  and  called  out: 

"Now  everything  all  at  once  belongs  to 
Rico!  Where  must  he  sleep?" 

"Must?    Must?    Silvio?"  said  the  mother. 
"In  every  room,  where  he  will;  he  can  send  us 
all  three  out  of  the  house  today,  if  he  wanted 
to,  and  live  in  the  house  all  alone." 
[154] 


RICO  FINDS  HIS  HOME 

"Then  I  would  rather  go  out  with  you," 
said  Rico. 

"Oh,  you  good  Rico!"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Men- 
otti.  "If  you  want  to  have  us  in  the  house, 
then  we  will  gladly  stay.  Already  on  my  way 
home  I  have  thought  out  how  we  could  arrange 
it.  I  could  take  half  the  house  and  so  with  the 
garden  and  the  land,  then  half  of  all  would 
belong  to  you,  and  the  other  to  Silvio." 

"Then  I  should  give  my  half  to  Stineli," 
cried  Silvio. 

"And  I  my  half,  too,"  said  Rico. 

"Oho,  now  everything  belongs  to  Stineli," 
rejoiced  the  little  fellow  from  out  of  his  bed, 
"the  garden  and  the  house  and  everything  in 
it,  the  chairs  and  the  tables  and  I  and  Rico  and 
the  violin.  Now  we  will  sing  again." 

But  Rico  did  not  consider  the  thing  so  easily 
settled  as  Silvio  did.  Meanwhile  he  had 
thought  over  Mrs.  Menotti's  words  and  now 
asked  hesitatingly:  "But  how  could  the  house 
of  Silvio's  father  belong  to  me  because  he  was 
my  father's  friend?" 

Then  Mrs.  Menotti  remembered  that  Rico 
knew  nothing  of  the  whole  occurrence,  and  she 
began  at  once  to  tell  the  story  and  more  com 
pletely  than  she  had  told  Stineli  the  evening 
before.  And  when  she  had  finished,  the  three 
[155] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

understood  and  all  three  began  to  rejoice  aloud, 
for  there  was  no  reason  why  Rico  should  not 
enter  his  home  at  once,  and  never  leave  it  again. 
But  in  the  midst  of  the  rejoicing  Rico  said: 

"Because  everything  is  now  as  it  is,  Mrs. 
Menotti,  there  need  not  be  any  change  in  the 
house,  I  come  now  also  and  am  at  home  with 
you,  and  we  remain  together  and  you  are  our 
mother." 

"Oh,  Rico,  that  it  is  you,  that  it  is  you! 
How  beautifully  the  Lord  has  arranged  every 
thing!  That  I  have  to  surrender  everything 
to  you  and  yet  may  remain  with  a  good  con 
science.  And  I  will  be  a  good  mother  to  you, 
Rico,  you  will  see,  I  have  loved  you  long  since 
like  my  own  child.  Now  you  must  call  me 
Mother,  and  Stineli,  too,  and  we  shall  be  the 
happiest  household  of  all  Peschiera!" 

"But  now  we  must  finish  our  song,"  cried 
Silvio,  who  wanted  to  sing  and  rejoice,  to  have 
an  outlet  for  his  feelings,  and  Stineli  and  Rico 
began  their  song  again,  for  they  both  were  not 
less  happy.  But  when  they  had  finished,  Sti 
neli  said:  "I  should  like  to  sing  a  song  with 
you,  Rico,  do  you  know  which  one?" 

"Yes,  I  know  it,"  answered  Rico,  "and  I 
will  gladly  sing  it  with  you,  and  we  will  begin 
with  grandmother's  verses,"  and  he  began  and 
[156] 


RICO  FINDS  HIS  HOME 

sang  so  beautifully  deep  out  of  himself  as  he 
had  never  sung  before,  and  Stineli  sang  with 
her  whole  heart  with  him: 

"He  never  yet  has  made  mistakes 

In  His  great  government, 
No,  what  He  does  and  lets  be  done 
For  thy  own  good  is  meant. 

Then  let  Him  rule,  and  further  do 

Whate'er  He  may  desire, 
Then  thou  wTilt  rest  in  peace  on  earth 

And  joy  thy  soul  acquire." 

But  Rico  did  not  go  to  Riva  that  day. 
Mother  Menotti  had  advised  him  to  go  at  once 
to  the  Inn  to  tell  the  landlady  of  his  changed 
position,  to  order  a  violin  player  to  Riva  and 
to  move  this  very  day  into  his  house.  This 
proposition  pleased  Rico,  and  he  hastened  to 
the  town.  The  landlady  listened  to  him  with 
greatest  surprise  when  he  told  her  of  the  change 
in  his  fortune;  when  he  was  through,  she  called 
her  husband  and  expressed  great  delight,  and 
wished  Rico  every  blessing  in  his  new  home, 
and  it  came  from  her  heart.  Then ,  too,  she  had 
become  suspicious  that  the  landlady  of  the 
"Three  Crowns"  was  trying  to  get  Rico  away 
from  her,  and  that  would  have  broken  her 
[157] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

heart.  That  could  not  now  happen,  and  that 
Rico  had  become  an  estate-owner  was  a  great 
joy  to  her,  for  she  had  grown  very  fond  of  him. 

And  her  husband  had  his  special  joy  for  he 
had  known  Rico's  father,  and  could  not  under 
stand  that  it  had  never  entered  his  mind,  since 
Rico  was  the  image  of  his  father.  So  Rico 
took  friendly  leave  of  the  people,  and  as  the 
landlady  shook  his  hand  again  at  the  door,  she 
recommended  her  house  in  case  Rico  sometime 
wanted  it  for  some  great  feast. 

The  same  evening  everyone  in  Peschiera 
knew  of  the  change  that  had  come  to  Rico,  and 
much  more  besides,  and  everyone  wished  him 
luck,  and  one  said  to  the  other:  "He  fits  so 
well  as  master  of  his  estate,  as  if  he  had  been 
born  in  it." 

But  Mother  Menotti  did  not  know  how  she 
could  have  everything  good  enough  for  the 
new  owner.  She  made  ready  the  large  room 
upstairs  with  the  two  windows  over  the  garden 
and  over  the  lake;  and  from  the  walls  pretty 
marble  figures  looked  down  on  him,  and  on  the 
table  stood  a  large  bunch  of  flowers,  and  the 
whole  room  looked  so  clean  and  festive  that 
Rico  stopped  at  the  door,  where  Stineli  had 
conducted  him,  and  where  he  now  was  received 
by  Mother  Menotti.  But  when  the  latter  took 
[158] 


RICO  FINDS  HIS  HOME 

his  hand  and  led  him  to  the  window  where  he 
could  see  the  shining  lake  and  the  violet  moun 
tains  at  a  distance,  then  Rico's  heart  became 
so  over-filled  with  gratitude  and  thanks  that  he 
could  only  murmur:  "Oh,  how  beautiful! 
And  now  I  may  be  at  home!" 

In  the  room  below  with  the  open  door  into 
the  garden  the  family  spent  happy,  untroubled 
days  so  that  they  did  not  know  how  time 
passed. 

In  the  daytime  Rico  went  with  his  whistling 
man  over  his  estate,  to  the  fig  trees  and  to  the 
corn,  for  now  he  must  learn  all  about  these 
things.  And  the  servant  thought:  "I  know 
more  than  my  master,"  and  pride  rose  within 
him.  But  when  in  the  evening,  he  leaned  on 
the  gate  and  listened  for  hours  to  the  violin 
playing,  then  he  thought:  "My  master  knows 
more  than  I,"  and  had  great  respect  for  his 
master. 


[159] 


CHAPTER  XXI 

Sunshine  on  the  Beautiful  Garda  Lake 

WO  years  had  thus  passed,  always  each 
day  more  enjoyable  than  the  last. 
Then  Stineli  knew  that  the  time  of  her 
departure  had  come,  and  she  had  to 
battle  with  herself  that  she  did  not  lose 
courage,  for  to  go  away  and  perhaps  never  to 
come  back,  was  the  hardest  thought  that  had 
ever  oppressed  her  heart.  Also  Rico  knew 
what  now  ought  to  be;  and  he  did  not  say  a 
word  for  days  and  days  except  what  was  neces 
sary.  Then  it  grew  uneasy  to  Mother  Menotti, 
and  she  tried  to  find  out  the  unknown  cause, 
for  she  had  long  since  forgotten  that  Stineli  was 
to  be  confirmed.  When  it  now  came  out  what 
the  trouble  was,  Mother  Menotti  said  quiet- 
ingly :  "One  can  wait  a  year  longer."  And  so 
all  lived  another  year  in  contentment  and  joy. 
But  in  the  third  year  the  message  came  from 
Bergamo  that  someone  had  come  from  the 
mountains,  who  had  the  order  to  take  Stineli 
home  with  him.  Now  it  had  to  be.  Little 
Silvio  acted  like  one  possessed,  but  it  was  of  no 
[160] 


use,  nothing  could  be  done  against  fate. 
Mother  Menotti,  the  last  three  days,  kept  on 
saying:  "Be  sure  you  come  back,  Stineli; 
promise  to  your  father  whatever  he  wants,  if 
he  only  will  let  you  go." 

Rico  said  nothing.  So  Stineli  left,  and 
from  that  day  on,  there  lay  a  gray,  heavy  cloud 
on  the  house  although  the  sun  might  shine  as 
brightly  outside  as  it  was  possible.  So  it  re 
mained  from  November  to  Easter,  when  all 
people  rejoice,  but  in  Rico's  house  all  was  still. 
And  when  the  feast  was  over,  and  in  the  gar 
den  everything  was  blooming,  much  more 
beautifully  than  ever  before,  then  Rico  sat  one 
evening  at  Silvio's  bed  and  played  the  saddest 
melodies  which  he  knew,  and  made  little 
Silvio  quite  melancholy,  but  all  at  once  there 
came  a  voice  from  the  garden  which  called  out : 
"Rico,  Rico,  have  you  not  a  merrier  reception 
for  me?" 

Silvio  screamed  aloud  like  one  beside  him 
self.  Rico  threw  his  violin  on  Silvio's  bed  and 
rushed  out.  Mother  Menotti  rushed  in  from 
fright.  There  stood  on  the  threshold  Stineli 
beside  Rico.  And  as  her  eyes  laughed  again 
into  the  room — there  was  again  the  long-lost 
sunshine ;  and  there  was  such  a  joyous  meeting 
as  none  of  them  could  have  imagined.  Now 
[161] 


THE  STORY  OF  RICO 

they  sat  again  around  the  table  by  Silvio's  bed, 
and  there  was  a  questioning  and  reporting  and 
telling,  and  then  again  a  rejoicing  over  the  re 
turn,  that  one  would  have  thought  that  nothing 
was  lacking  to  these  four  people,  for  perfect 
happiness.  But  it  was  different  with  Rico. 
In  the  midst  of  all  this  joy  he  began  suddenly 
to  wonder,  as  he  used  to  do,  but  it  did  not  last 
long,  he  must  have  found  a  satisfactory  decision, 
for  suddenly  the  wondering  had  passed,  and  with 
the  greatest  firmness  he  said :  "  Stineli  has  to  be 
my  wife  right  away,  else  she  will  leave  us  again, 
and  we  cannot  bear  it." 

Silvio  was  at  once  full  of  enthusiasm  for  this 
new  undertaking,  and  it  did  not  take  long, 
when  all  agreed  that  it  must  be  so  and  could 
not  be  different.  On  the  most  beautiful  day  of 
May  which  had  ever  risen  over  Peschiera,  a 
procession  moved  from  the  church  toward  the 
inn  "At  the  Golden  Sun."  First  came  tall 
Rico,  walking  stately  along,  at  his  side  the 
bright-eyed  Stineli  with  a  crown  of  fresh 
flowers  on  her  head,  then  came  in  a  softly- 
bolstered  carriage  drawn  by  two  joyous  boys 
of  Peschiera,  little  Silvio,  beaming  happily  like 
a  triumvir;  then  came  Mother  Menotti,  deeply 
touched,  in  her  rustling  wedding  splendor. 
After  her  came  the  gardener,  with  a  nosegay 
[162] 


SUNSHINE  ON  THE  GARDA  LAKE 

which  covered  his  whole  chest,  and  now  came 
the  whole  of  Peschiera,  in  noisy  enthusiasm, 
for  all  wanted  to  see  the  handsome  couple  and 
celebrate  with  them.  It  was  a  general  family 
festivity  of  the  people  of  Peschiera,  now  the 
lost  and  returned  Peschieran  was  about  to 
form  a  firmly-established  home  in  his  native 
town. 

The  joy  of  victory  of  the  landlady  of  the 
"Golden  Sun"  when  she  saw  the  procession 
arrive  before  her  house,  cannot  be  described; 
whenever  afterwards  any  wedding,  high  or  low, 
was  talked  of,  she  would  say  with  superiority: 
"That  is  all  nothing  in  comparison  to  Rico's 
wedding  in  the  'Golden  Sun'." 

The  sunshine  never  went  away  from  the 
house  in  the  flower  garden,  but  Stineli  took 
care  that  the  Lord's  Prayer  was  never  forgot 
ten,  and  every  Sunday  evening  the  hymn  of 
Grandmother  resounded  in  bright  chorus  out 
into  the  open.  air. 


[163] 


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